The area was decided upon in the 1360s and was used by the Saxon kings as a hunting forest. Today one of its most popular attractions is the Savill Garden which is one of the best temperate woodland gardens in the world. There are many different gardens, each with its own design or theme, all of which produces a huge and beautiful, colourful carpet which is easy to explore along grass trails, leading from one ‘garden’ to another. Their is no prescribed route, you can wander wherever you wish in 35 acres of contemporary and classically designed gardens and woodland.
About the Gardens
In 1931 there was no public garden in the entire area, but in 1932 the Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park, Eric Savill, began developing the garden from an existing boggy area. When the war started the garden could not be completed until the early 1950s. It is said that at the end of the war in 1945 Eric Savill used bricks from bombed houses in the East End of London to create the Walled Garden.
What Savill had in mind was a woodland garden and the fine mature forest trees, originally planted in the 18th century, seemed the perfect environment for the cultivation of a wide range of plants. Slowly the garden took shape. planted with spectacular flowering plants from East Asia and North America
Savill created distinctive planting groups including areas such as Spring Wood, The Summer Wood, The Hidden Gardens, The Summer Gardens, The Glades, Autumn Wood, The Azalea Walks and The New Zealand Garden. The garden is now considered one of the finest woodland gardens anywhere in the world, containing a great number of rare specimens.
The great sea of flowers began with little more than a handful of seeds, donated in 1946 by an amateur gardener.
Some Unusual Gardens
There are some very interesting and unusual gardens to look out for, like the Bog Garden. This was the original name for the new born Savill Garden. The wet conditions are ideal for the cultivation of a huge diversity of moisture-loving plants.
The Dry Garden was created in 1978 from an old rose garden that was removed and the area cleared to make way for the large number of plants requiring little or no watering to survive. Many of these originated in the Mediterranean basin, others came from Australia, California and South Africa.
The New Zealand Garden opened in April 2007. Containing over 3,000 native plants, it is the largest collection of its kind in the UK.
There is also a unique Temperate House which shelters frost-tender plants from the rigours of winter and there is a unique moss garden near the Upper Pond.
A new Rose Garden opened in June 2011 and will provide an intense sensory experience with roses especially chosen for their scent, strong colours and repeat flowering.
There are a number of trails and areas suitable for wheelchair users and the Savill Building provides a suitably impressive setting in which to enjoy a light meal or refreshment in the restaurant.
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is only four miles from the Savill Garden so why not make a day of it and spend some time visiting the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. For nearly 1,000 years the castle has been inhabited continuously and altered and refurbished by successive monarchs since William the Conqueror chose the site in the 1070s. The castle is only 21 miles from London and is easily reached by public transport.
Approximate opening times:
- 10am-6pm Mar-Oct
- 10am-4pm Nov-Feb
- Parking is convenient and located directly outside the garden.
- Contact: 044 (0)1753 860222
- Savill Garden, Crown Estate Office, The Great Park, Windsor, Berkshire.
- SL4 2HT
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