Batsford Arboretum
Encyclopedia
Batsford Arboretum is a 55 acres (222,577.3 m²) arboretum
and botanical garden
near Batsford
in Gloucestershire
, England, about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh
. It is owned and run by the Batsford Foundation, a registered charity, and is open to the public daily throughout most of the year.
The arboretum sits on the Cotswold scarp and contains around 2,900 trees, with a large collection of Japanese maples, magnolias and pines. It maintains the national collection of Prunus (sato-sakura Group) — Japanese Flowering Cherry — under the NCCPG National Plant Collection
scheme run by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens
.
. He had travelled widely in Asia and developed the garden as a "wild" landscape with natural plantings inspired by Chinese and Japanese practice.
He died in 1916 and was succeeded by David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale
, who was father of the famous Mitford sisters. They lived at Batsford during World War I, and Nancy Mitford
based the early part of her novel Love in a Cold Climate on their time at Batsford. In 1919 the estate was sold to cover death duties to Gilbert Wills, 1st Baron Dulverton
, an heir to the W.D. & H.O. Wills
tobacco fortune. His wife Victoria further developed the garden and specimen tree plantings.
After neglect during World War II the arboretum was revived by (Frederick) Anthony Hamilton Wills, 2nd Baron Dulverton (1915–1992), who succeeded in 1956. He consolidated and expanded the collections and brought Batsford into international repute. To ensure the survival of the arboretum he donated Batsford Park to a charitable trust in 1984.
Apart from the arboretum, the remainder of the 5000 acres (20.2 km²) historic Batsford Estate is privately owned by (Gilbert) Michael Hamilton Wills, 3rd Baron Dulverton
(born 1944).
mapping six-figure grid reference SP 187339
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
and botanical garden
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
near Batsford
Batsford
Batsford is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 99. The village is about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh...
in Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, England, about 1½ miles north-west of Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh
Moreton-in-Marsh is a town and civil parish in northeastern Gloucestershire, England. The town is at the crossroads of the Fosse Way Roman road and the A44. The parish and environs are relatively flat and low-lying compared with the surrounding Cotswold Hills...
. It is owned and run by the Batsford Foundation, a registered charity, and is open to the public daily throughout most of the year.
The arboretum sits on the Cotswold scarp and contains around 2,900 trees, with a large collection of Japanese maples, magnolias and pines. It maintains the national collection of Prunus (sato-sakura Group) — Japanese Flowering Cherry — under the NCCPG National Plant Collection
NCCPG National Plant Collection
The NCCPG National Plant Collection scheme is the main conservation vehicle whereby the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens can accomplish its mission: to conserve, grow, propagate, document and make available the resource of garden plants that exists in the United...
scheme run by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens
National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens
The National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens , also known as Plant Heritage, is a botanical conservation organisation in the United Kingdom and a registered charity. It was founded in 1978 to combine the talents of botanists, horticulturalists and conservationists with the...
.
History
The estate of Batsford Park was inherited in 1886 by Algernon Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron RedesdaleAlgernon Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale
Algernon Bertram Freeman-Mitford, 1st Baron Redesdale GCVO, KCB , of Batsford Park, Gloucestershire, and Birdhope Craig, Northumberland, was a British diplomat, collector and writer...
. He had travelled widely in Asia and developed the garden as a "wild" landscape with natural plantings inspired by Chinese and Japanese practice.
He died in 1916 and was succeeded by David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale
David Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale
David Bertram Ogilvy Freeman-Mitford, 2nd Baron Redesdale, , was an English landowner and was the father of the Mitford sisters, in whose various novels and memoirs he is depicted.-Ancestry:...
, who was father of the famous Mitford sisters. They lived at Batsford during World War I, and Nancy Mitford
Nancy Mitford
Nancy Freeman-Mitford, CBE , styled The Hon. Nancy Mitford before her marriage and The Hon. Mrs Peter Rodd thereafter, was an English novelist and biographer, one of the Bright Young People on the London social scene in the inter-war years...
based the early part of her novel Love in a Cold Climate on their time at Batsford. In 1919 the estate was sold to cover death duties to Gilbert Wills, 1st Baron Dulverton
Gilbert Wills, 1st Baron Dulverton
Gilbert Alan Hamilton Wills, 1st Baron Dulverton , known as Sir Gilbert Wills, 2nd Baronet, from 1909 to 1929, was a British businessman and Conservative Member of Parliament....
, an heir to the W.D. & H.O. Wills
W.D. & H.O. Wills
W.D. & H.O. Wills was a British tobacco importer and cigarette manufacturer formed in Bristol, England. It was one of the founding companies of Imperial Tobacco.-History:...
tobacco fortune. His wife Victoria further developed the garden and specimen tree plantings.
After neglect during World War II the arboretum was revived by (Frederick) Anthony Hamilton Wills, 2nd Baron Dulverton (1915–1992), who succeeded in 1956. He consolidated and expanded the collections and brought Batsford into international repute. To ensure the survival of the arboretum he donated Batsford Park to a charitable trust in 1984.
Apart from the arboretum, the remainder of the 5000 acres (20.2 km²) historic Batsford Estate is privately owned by (Gilbert) Michael Hamilton Wills, 3rd Baron Dulverton
Baron Dulverton
Baron Dulverton, of Batsford in the County of Gloucester, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1929 for the businessman Sir Gilbert Wills, 2nd Baronet. He was President of the Imperial Tobacco Company and also sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for Taunton and...
(born 1944).
Location
Batsford Arboretum is located at Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
mapping six-figure grid reference SP 187339