Brobury House & Garden

 It was a pleasing June day, pleasantly warm with a mix of blue skies and cotton wool clouds. Mary had just come back from Leominster where she had helped set up an exhibition in the Priory Church as it celebrates its 900th anniversary. She was hungry and the cupboards were bare. So I suggested going out for lunch to Brobury House Gardens. We had visited this delightful eight acre garden many years ago but could not recall any particular features. And it has a cafe!!

Figure 1: Layout of the Gardens (Brobury House & Gardens, June 2025)

The house itself is nothing special, built in the late 19th Century and typical of the Victorian era. There is no access to the house apart from the more recently added conservatory.

Photo 1: Brobury House (June 2025)

Photo 2: Conservatory (June 2025)

First port of call was the cafe. We both had the salad of the day (feta & walnut) which was delicious if a little pricey ...

Photo 3: Eating our Greens

... before paying our £9 per person to view the gardens. We spent three and a quarter hours (including lunch) enjoying the gardens.

Lots of 'garden rooms' and plenty of trees against some hard landscaping (ponds, wall, bridges, etc). The gardens overlook the River Wye near Bredwardine Brodge and there are views across the river to the rectory where Francis Kilvert, the famous diarist, spent the last two years of his life as vicar of Bredwardine.

Photo 4: Kilvert's Rectory, Bredwardine

Here are a few photos to show off the garden ...

Photo 5: The Season of Roses (Brobury Gardens, June 2025)

Photo 6: One of Several Ponds in a Tree-Lined Landscape

Photo 7: Veteran Mulberry Tree

Photo 8: A stand of Paper Birch Trees

Photo 9: Hard Landscaping & Sensitive Planting

Photo 10: Another Pool

The Caucasian Wingnut Tree (Photo 11) drew many admiring glances with its small green flowers in drooping racemes.

Photo 11: Caucasian Wingnut Tree

But for me, this Dogwood tree (Photo 12), being admired by Mary, beat everything else hands down ...

Photo 12: Eye-catching Dogwood

Just covered in flowers ...

Photo 13: Dogwood in Bloom

Photo 14: A Mass of Dogwood Flowers

A small stream runs through the gardens before joining the River Wye and includes an artificial waterfall:

Photo 15: Waterfall, Brobury Gardens (June 2025)

And, of course, I had to make a short video of the waterfall to add to my collection ...

Video 1: Waterfall, Brobury Gardens, Herefordshire (June 2025)

So, all-in-all, a very pleasant day's outing. Is the £9 entry fee to the garden expensive. Not really when you consider it costs £12 to watch Hereford FC play at Edgar Street. The salad platter was rather expensive and not very filling but it did leave room for tea and cakes after we had finished our walk around the garden!

You can use the cafe without paying an entrance fee although you would be missing out on the best part. An annual pass was about £35 which would be a good investment if you lived nearby and planned a number of visits throughout the seasons.