In celebration of this milestone, a reflective trail has been created. Throughout May and June, visitors will be able to see boards in Prior Park that compares the current garden to how it looked when first entering the care of the National Trust in the early 1990s.
Ann Fiddler, Operations Manager for the National Trust in Bath, said ‘Reaching a significant anniversary such as this, provides a great opportunity to look back and remember how far the garden has come. Having recently restored the historic dams, Prior Park is fully open and looking magnificent once again.’
Visitors today will find the garden boasts fabulous views over the city of Bath, newly planted shrubberies, reflections in the lakes and established walkways, and you’d been forgiven for not knowing the journey that the garden has been on.
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Acquired in 1993, the garden was neglected; buildings decayed, seedling trees and shrubs had taken over, and the lakes had silted up. Much work had to be undertaken before opening to the public.
Prior Park first opened its doors in 1996 once paths had been cleared, trees made safe and essential repairs had taken place on the Palladian Bridge, dams and lakes. A new welcome kiosk and a toilet block were added for the comfort of visitors. Since then, the garden has continued to be cared for, with various features restored or interpreted for visitors delight.
Most recently, the historic dams underwent a full restoration as the middle dam had been leaking in a number of places for many years, exacerbated by burrowing invasive American signal crayfish. New shrubberies were planted and the lower lake had the bullrushes removed in March this year, finally restoring the reflections that should be seen in all three lakes that flow under the iconic Palladian Bridge.
Once Ralph Allen’s garden for his mansion house (now Prior Park College), it is the garden design from 1764 that helps guide the restorations and maintenance that still happen today. As an historic grade 1 listed garden, even the planting carefully reflects the style from the 18th century.
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As Head Gardener at Prior Park, Alice Norland, commented ‘over the last 12 months the garden team and volunteers have worked hard to restore the shrubberies following the dams repair. We’ve introduced some new plants that would have been similar to those found in the garden in the 18th century and it’s wonderful to see visitors enjoying the full garden once again.’
With construction work having ended over a year ago, Prior Park is fully open seven days a week from 10am until 5pm (with last entry at 4pm), with the Tea Shed open on weekends and during the school holidays on selected days.
More information can be found at https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/prior-park-landscape-garden
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