Thenford House Gardens
On 17th February 2024 the Club made a visit to Thenford House, situated a few miles east of Banbury. The gardens and arboretum there have been created over the last 40 years by Lord and Lady Heseltine.
The arboretum features a collection of more than three thousand different trees and shrubs, together with extensive herbaceous borders, water gardens, an alpine trough garden, a sculpture garden, a rose garden and a rill. The medieval fishponds, their interconnecting canal and the existing lake have been restored and two new ones have been added.
Members particularly enjoyed visiting the Italianate walled garden, including as it does an aviary and hot-house for tropical plants, the sculpture garden running between two circular gardens and the rill, all of which feature in the photographs below.
Thenford is famous for its snowdrops (600 different species and cultivars) and many were in evidence throughout the gardens and arboretum.
