Quarry Bank Garden reveals an 18th-century 'secret'

The door to an 18th century 'secret' will open from 11 March 2008 as the National Trust completes the first part of its restoration work at Quarry Bank Garden in Cheshire.

The acquisition of the garden, together with Quarry Bank House, in November 2006 by the National Trust, is the final piece in the jigsaw of the 18th century Quarry Bank Mill estate, making it one of the most complete mill estates of its kind in the UK, and restoring it to near the original vision of its founder, Samuel Greg.

Both house and garden had been in careful private ownership for the previous four decades. Until then it had remained in the Greg family.

The construction of Quarry Bank Garden was begun in the 1790s when Samuel Greg decided to build his family home adjacent to his cotton mill – a common practice in the early industrial revolution. The valley garden was created in the then fashionable ‘picturesque’ style, with the River Bollin running through, beautiful vistas, and the odd ‘folly’ such as the ‘hermit’s cave’ set into the valley sides. Greg built his house at the head of the valley thus ensuring the views of the garden were uninterrupted.

Over the last 12 months a team of volunteers has been working to bring the identity and shape of the original garden back to life and make it accessible to everyone.

Following the opening of the garden in March 2008, the next exciting project is to identify around 20 plants which may possibly be the original rhododendron hybrids created by Robert Hyde Greg (1795 – 1875) who was Samuel Greg’s son. Robert was passionate about plants and commissioned well-known local nurseries to hybridise rhododendrons, giving them names associated with the Greg family and the locality. These hybrids are unique to Quarry Bank and will be a wonderful addition to the history and interpretation of the garden in future.

In addition to the garden, visitors can also see the complete working cotton mill, the restored Apprentice House, mill workers’ village and country estate, all set in the valley of the River Bollin.

Quarry Bank Mill, Garden and Styal Estate are at Styal, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 4LA. For further information about the Mill log onto www.nationaltrust.org.uk