Houghton Lodge Gardens welcomes The Worshipful The Mayor of Romsey, Councillor Alan Dowden, and Mayoress Councillor Celia Dowden to celebrate their Guinness World Records recognition and 230th anniversary
Houghton Lodge Gardens – a Grade II listed “Cottage Orné” surrounded by mature trees, sweeping lawns and formal gardens, opened early this weekend for one of 2 special weekends to allow visitors to view the swathes of daffodils and rare scilla adorning the gardens. On 19th The Worshipful The Mayor of Romsey Councillor Alan Dowden, and Mayoress Councillor Celia Dowden, were welcomed for a special visit to view the Champion espaliered Pear Tree which is not only the longest of its kind in Britain, but in the world.
As such it has been announced that it is a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title holder for the longest espaliered plant. The Pear Tree ‘Beurre Diel’ has an incredible width of 16.44 m (53ft 11 in)
The Mayor and Mayoress also viewed some of the gardens, which boast a fantastic walled kitchen garden, home to a heritage orchard with many historic apple and pear trees, formal and informal gardens, woodland grotto and water meadows complete with alpacas and Hebridean sheep. They had a preview of the new Oriental Garden, due to open to the public on the 1st April, and had a tour of the house.
Houghton Lodge Gardens’ 2nd special opening will be on 25th and 26th March, between 10am and 2pm, before opening for the main season on 1st April.
www.houghtonlodge.co.uk
Photo L-R: Daniel Busk, Sophie Busk, The Mayor of Romsey, Councillor Alan Dowden and Mayoress Councillor Celia Dowden.Credit Tara Bradley-Birt
