Gardens of England - King's Arms Garden - Ampthill, Bedfordshire
Ampthill is a Georgian Town with a rich history. It has historical places of visit, a few gardens, beautiful houses and breathtaking walks. Among those few gardens is a small woodland garden called King’s Arms Garden, that lies on the King’s Arms Path. The path leading to the garden itself is stunningly beautiful with beautiful views of landscapes and natural pathways, surrounded by beautiful shrubs and trees.
Ampthill Market Square & Kings Arms Path
The garden was created in 1967 by William Nourish (1908 – 1986) a plantsman in about 1 ½ acres of land. After his death, it is being maintained by the Ampthill town council and a group of volunteers called “The Friends of the Garden” who help maintain the garden in good conditions.
The path from this garden leads into town. This garden is private and sometimes open to the public from time to time upon permission from the council. The opening times are announced by the town council in their website and also on a noticeboard outside the garden. There is a small entrance fee for adults.
This garden which was earlier a wasteland has a variety of trees, shrubs, bulbs and many other variety of plants, both seasonal and non-seasonal. There is also a small pond which lies towards one end of the garden, which looks so serene. This piece of land where the garden exists now used to be a rubbish dump in the past. It was Mr. Nourish, who took permission from the council to clear it and develop it into a garden. Mr.Nourish was a horticulturist and hence used his skills and ability and put in so much effort to create this woodland garden. The garden is usually open on the last Sunday of every month, and this garden has featured in the Good gardens guide and BBC Gardeners’ world magazine.
One of the colleagues in our office is a volunteer and belongs to “The Friends of the Garden” group. He had arranged for interested people to go for a walk down to the garden. I have shared here the pictures of the lovely garden which was taken during the visit of not more than 30 minutes. I am sorry, not sure of the names of the flowers, plants and trees and hence have not named them.
