Rousham House & Gardens
Rousham
Wildlife & Gardens Experience
Designed by William Kent, Rousham House & Gardens remains, above all, unspoilt and uncommercialised. It represents the first phase of English landscape design and remains almost entirely as Kent left it. Subsequently, it is one of the few gardens of this age to have escaped redesign and modernization.
Willam Kent visualised these gardens as a stage and consequently, here at Rousham, every path ends with a statue or a building. There are myriad ways to discover the Rousham Gardens, and undeniably you will enjoy spending the day exploring. There are walled gardens with herbaceous borders, a pigeon house and a kitchen garden. Beyond the garden, the park is home to a herd of rare Longhorn cattle.
There is something here for everyone, including water features, fruit trees, statues, and fountains. In keeping with the uncommercial approach there is no café or tearoom, so we suggest you pack a delicious picnic. Then as you wander take time to stop, breathe, and soak up the idyllic sights and heady scents of one of England’s most important gardens. With thousands of ways to walk around, the spectacular gardens are enough to keep visitors entertained for hours.
The gardens are open daily from 10 am, they close at dusk and tickets may be purchased on arrival. If you’re still keen to see more, the lovely manor house, built in 1635 and modified by William Kent in the 1740s, is open by appointment only.
To note: Dogs are not allowed in the gardens. No children under 15 are allowed in the gardens without prior permission.
