Westonbury Mill

There are a surprising number of small gardens tucked away that are open to the public. This is a little further afield but well worth a visit. It can be combined with a drive through the black and white houses route around the outskirts of Leominster.  Westonbury Mill Water Gardens are built around the water ways of an old water mill. There are 3 follies all very different and built by the owner once he had learnt the various skills required! He sells the plants and has a cafe serving homemade lunches and snacks.

The Follies

About fourteen years ago the owner, Richard Pimm, wanted to use an old water wheel in his grounds so built a tower. There are gargoyle mouths out of which the water regularly appears. Not content with this first folley two more appeared over the years.

The second folley is a dome made from 5000 wine bottles. They shine like stained glass when the sun hits it. Inside is a small pond area in keeping with all the other watery themes.

The last one was a water powered cuckoo clock. The tower with a water theme, of course, has a broad shaft up the centre displaying the mechanism of the water-powered clock and singing bird. The bird song mechanism was made by the organ builder who did the restoration of the singing birds at the Villa d’Este garden outside Rome.

The retail area

The cafe has plenty of seating both inside and outside. They serve lunches, afternoon tea, icecreams and local fruit juices. There are daily specials for lunch with particularly good quiche.

You can also walk around the plant sales area that has a good selection of unusual perennials. Not surprising but they have a very good range of moisture and water edge loving plants as seen in the gardens.

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