One of Bristol’s hidden horticultural treasures will be open to the public on Sunday 26 April. Designed by Thomas Goldney III and built in 1714, the English Heritage-listed Goldney gardens have been restored to the original design.
Visitors to the ten acres of formal and wooded gardens, situated in Bristol University’s Goldney Hall in Clifton, will have the chance to see a range of plants, trees and unusual follies that are not usually open to view.
Visitors will be able to look around Goldney’s two orchards, one contains varieties of apple trees, which were available in William Goldney's time in the 1750s, and the other contains a collection of apple, pear and plum trees.
The gardens also contain a feature tree avenue lined with mature yew (Taxus baccata), bay (Laurus nobilis) and Holm oak (Quercus ilex) and an 'Old World Garden’, which contains a large collection of herbaceous plants and climbers.
Follies such as a bastion, rotunda, an ornamental canal, a gothic tower and the unusual grotto – a Grade I-listed building covered with a variety of minerals, shells, corals, rocks and fossils – can also be seen.
During the day there will be a plant sale, face painting and a treasure trail for children. Cream teas, homemade cakes and other refreshments will be served in the Orangery, overlooking the ornamental canal and formal gardens.
The open day will run from 12 pm to 5 pm. Tickets will be available on the door priced £3 (concessions £1.50 and children under five free). Proceeds from the event will go to the Goldney Restoration Fund.
Professor Gregor McLennan, Warden of Goldney Hall, said: “This is a rare opportunity to see Goldney’s historic monuments in a beautiful setting, and well worth visiting for those reasons. But it is also just a lovely and quite low-key place to wander around in, or relax over a picnic on the grass. All are welcome.”
Goldney Hall was opened in 1956. Originally it provided accommodation for 19 female students in Goldney House, which was built in the early 1700s as the country home of the Bristol merchant, Thomas Goldney.
The Goldneys were a Quaker family with business interests in banking, shipping and the iron and brass industries. Much of their fortune came from financing Captain Woodes Roger’s privateering raids against Spanish treasure ships, one unexpected result of which was the rescue of Alexander Selkirk, the original Robinson Crusoe whom Defoe is reputed to have met in Bristol. The traditional Georgian design of the house was altered in 1865 by the eminent Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse.
Goldney Hall is located on Lower Clifton Hill, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 1BH.