Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens
Encyclopedia
The Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens near the village of Abbotsbury
, Dorset
, southern England
, are gardens that are open to visitors. They were originally founded in 1765 by the Countess of Ilchester as a kitchen garden
for the nearby castle. Since then, the gardens have developed into a 20-acre (81,000 m²) site with exotic plants, many of which were newly-discovered species when they were first introduced. There are formal and informal gardens, with woodland walks and walled garden
s.
The gardens are in a wooded and sheltered valley, leading down towards the Chesil Beach
. This provides a microclimate
in which more delicate plants than is normal for southern England can flourish. However, in 1990, violent storms damaged many of the rare specimens, which have since been replaced by younger plants.
In 2010 Abbotsbury employed the chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb
to carve a 200 year old oak tree which had fallen after a particularly bad winter. Crabb created two beautiful wildlife scenes which have become visitor attractions in their own right.
Abbotsbury
Abbotsbury is a large village and civil parish in the West Dorset district of Dorset, England; situated north-west of Weymouth. It is located from Upwey railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The main road running through the village is the B3157, connecting Abbotsbury to...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, are gardens that are open to visitors. They were originally founded in 1765 by the Countess of Ilchester as a kitchen garden
Kitchen garden
The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden - the ornamental plants and lawn areas...
for the nearby castle. Since then, the gardens have developed into a 20-acre (81,000 m²) site with exotic plants, many of which were newly-discovered species when they were first introduced. There are formal and informal gardens, with woodland walks and walled garden
Walled garden
A walled garden is specifically a garden enclosed by high walls for horticultural rather than security purposes, though traditionally all gardens have been hedged about or walled for protection from animal or human intruders...
s.
The gardens are in a wooded and sheltered valley, leading down towards the Chesil Beach
Chesil Beach
Chesil Beach, sometimes called Chesil Bank, in Dorset, southern England is one of three major shingle structures in Britain. Its toponym is derived from the Old English ceosel or cisel, meaning "gravel" or "shingle"....
. This provides a microclimate
Microclimate
A microclimate is a local atmospheric zone where the climate differs from the surrounding area. The term may refer to areas as small as a few square feet or as large as many square miles...
in which more delicate plants than is normal for southern England can flourish. However, in 1990, violent storms damaged many of the rare specimens, which have since been replaced by younger plants.
In 2010 Abbotsbury employed the chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb
Matthew Crabb
Matthew Crabb is an English chainsaw carving artist.-Early life:Born in Dorset, he currently lives and works on the edge of Exmoor. Crabb's interest in Art was leading towards a career in Graphic Design, but took a twist whilst he was working in a power tool hire shop...
to carve a 200 year old oak tree which had fallen after a particularly bad winter. Crabb created two beautiful wildlife scenes which have become visitor attractions in their own right.
External links
- Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens
- Virtual tour
- Photograph on FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to...