Wisteria sinensis in the walled garden at Bowood House

Bowood House and Gardens in Wiltshire has revealed the guided tours that will take place during its 2018 season, running from 1st April to 1st November.

Each of the four tours will focus on a particular theme, including Bowood House, Capability Brown’s parkland, the Walled Garden and Dr Joseph Priestley.

About the tours

The 60-minute Private Walled Garden tours will take groups through the four-acre garden, featuring four distinct one-acre squares, comprising formal borders, a picking garden, glass houses and a working kitchen garden.

Lord and Lady Lansdowne open up their private garden for midweek visits for members of the public and tours are tailored to the season and the flowers in bloom.

The 90-minute Capability Brown parkland tours, originally launched to mark 2016’s tercentenary of his birth, will give visitors the opportunity to explore his work.

In addition, the 60-minute Dr Joseph Priestley: The Discovery of Oxygen tours will explore the scientific work of Dr Priestley, who was provided with a laboratory at Bowood for his work and it was there that he discovered oxygen gas on 1st August 1774.

Leading on from the Orangery towards the Library, the Laboratory is now an ante-room lined with bookcases that originally came from Lansdowne House in London’s Berkeley Square.

Finally, the 60-minute Bowood House tours will allow groups to learn more about the place, including what became of the ‘Big House’ and how the ‘Little House’ then emerged in the form it takes in the Orangery, Sculpture Gallery, the Library, Chapel and Exhibition Rooms.

How to book

For groups of 15 or more, Bowood House and Gardens can shape its welcome accordingly.

For groups planning to build an overnight stay into their itinerary, the 43-bedroom Bowood Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort, is also available.

For more information or to book, you can call 01249-810961, email houseandgardens@bowood.or, or visit www.bowood.org.

(Photo credit: www.visitwiltshire.co.uk).