My Britain   
     
Park and Garden Locator
ATTRACTIONS
Abbeys
Museums
Ancient Sites
Castles
Cathedrals
Gardens
Heritage Railways
Historic Houses
Palaces
National Parks
Royal Residences
Spas
Theme Parks
Wildlife
World Heritage
 
 
 
 
 

Wrest Park Gardens.

"The old house was built between 1655 and 1695 by the Countess of Kent, commonly called "the good Countess," and altered by Philip, Earl of Hardwicke, when he married the Marchioness Grey, and again altered by her in 1795. It is of this building that Horace Walpole writes in such condemnation : " Wrest and Hawnes are both ugly places ; the house at the former is ridiculously old and bad." Walpole's taste is not always to be trusted, as he considered the Garden at Wrest " execrable too, but is something mended by Brown," that arch-spoiler of Formal Gardens! The present house was begun in 1834, in the French style, by Lord de Grey, who, apparently thinking the old house too unsatisfactory to alter or improve in any way, designed and personally superintended the building of a new house." Extract from "A book of English gardens" (Open Library).

Address:
Wrest Park,
Silsoe,
Luton,
Bedfordshire MK45 4HR
Website: www.english-heritage.org.uk

Some of the best parks and gardens......

England: The Eden Project.
 
England: Wisley Gardens.
 
England: Kew Gardens
 
Scotland: Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
 
Wales: Snowdonia National Park

Recommended ......

Read: Queen Elizabeth in the Garden: A Story of Love, Rivalry, and Spectacular Gardens

Read: Gardens of the National Trust

Watch: Great Gardens of England
 
Thomas Pink: Perfect Gifts For Holiday