The Hestercombe Gardens Trust was established in 1996 to oversee the restoration of the gardens and to protect them for the future.
If you're planning to visit between Monday 9th September and Friday 13th September, please be aware that there is a diversion in place to get to the main entrance. This is due to Wessex Water works taking place and closing the road along Pitchers Hill in Cheddon Fitzpaine. To see where the road closure is and the diversion, please click here. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
The Trust’s charitable objective is: to reclaim, restore, preserve, enhance and develop for the education and benefit of the public, the landscape, gardens and buildings of heritage, horticultural or architectural interest associated with Hestercombe and in support of this objective, to undertake educational work and preserve and maintain archives and collections.
Philip White MBE
Looking at Hestercombe today, it is hard to believe that back in 1995, the spectacularly picturesque eighteenth century Landscape Garden at Hestercombe was a hidden valley entirely engulfed by trees. Even the sluggish stream that crept through the valley bottom was barely visible. Now it is one of the foremost gardens of its period in the country and is an acclaimed tourist attraction.
The miraculous transformation has taken place thanks to the dogged determination of one man, Philip White, who is the founder and former chief executive of what has now become the Hestercombe Gardens Trust.
Sir Andrew Burns KCMG
