Lydney Park Spring Gardens - Roman Temple Site

A visit to Lydney Park Gardens is a great fun family day out - stroll through the woodland garden, picnic in the Deer Park, explore the Roman ruins and visit the museums, including our New Zealand Museum. Groups and Guided Tours are available by prior arrangement. Dogs may be taken around the garden on a lead.

Roman Ruins Excavation on the Lydney Park Estate in the 1805 also exposed evidence of settlements dating back to 100BC, a Norman castle and extensive ruins of a Roman Camp including a Roman Temple.

The "Lydney Dog" is an impressive piece of Romano-British sculpture created in cast bronze and has since become the symbol of the Estate.

Like many gardens, the Lydney Park grounds and Lydney Park Spring Gardens have evolved over time. The original house at Lydney Park was surrounded by a Pleasure Garden and a large walled garden, which backed onto the Deer Park. Over time many impressive, exotic and rare trees have been planted in the Deer Park by successive generations of the family.

Some of the original formal gardens at Lydney Park were cleared to grow potatoes during the Second World War, leaving a blank canvas for the second Lord and Lady Bledisloe. As a result in the 1950's, a paved terrace, two fountain pools, hedges and lawns were introduced into the garden together with a major replanting programme - the result is an impressive display of spring colour.

Flowering Cherries, Magnolias, scented spring flowering shrubs and drifts of spring bulbs provide a stunning entrance to Lydney Park Gardens.

Delve deeper into the grounds at Lydney Park Gardens and you will find the eight acre woodland garden, a tranquil place of natural beauty.

Whilst underlying soil in the gardens is not acidic, the leaf mould created by the surrounding oak and chestnut trees suits Rhododendrons and other acid loving plants. As a result, the Lydney Park woodland garden is full of colourful Azaleas, Rhododendrons, Corylopsis and Pieris as well as Magnolias, Acers and Cornus.