The Plantation Garden, Norwich waiting to be discovered
The Plantation Garden in Norwich has to be the biggest best kept secret. Imagine it, a large Victorian formal garden in a gorge, slipped in behind a hotel on a road bordered with nineteenth century villas, you would never know it was there unless you were looking. And that’s how it was lost for over 30 years until it was rediscovered and restored. Imagine the thrill of going in to play in the ruined gardens when everyone had forgotten about it, move over The Lost Gardens of Helligan. This dramatic folly, created in an old chalk quarry, all built from the ingenious imagination of it’s Victorian creator, Henry Trevor, prosperous cabinet maker and upholsterer.
Plantation Garden, Norwich, could be the Italian Riviera!
Friends were discussing glamourous picnics at Glyndebourne and The Royal Ascot Races, I wondered where I would treat myself to a dose of theatrical dejeuner sur l’herbe and decided The Plantation Garden hit the spot. If you are planning to romantically serenade your nearest and dearest you couldn’t beat the flamboyance of the Italianate tiered steps, in my opinion the perfect place.
The Plantation Garden, Norwich, a place to strike a Byronic pose or stop and read
Spread out your picnic blanket and enjoy a langorous picnic in the follytastic gardens. If that is all too demanding head down on a Sunday when tea and cakes are served.
The Pantation Garden, Norwich, Gothic Fountain
The Plantation Garden, Norwich, moments that stop you in your tracks
It could be a random ruin, but it’s even better than that.
The Plantation Garden, Norwich, see it from all angles
At the top of the layers of sweeping steps is the best rustic shed in the world.
The Plantation Garden, Norwich, now that's what I call a shed!