A talk by Sharon Briscoe
Treasurer of Friends of Whitehurst Gardens

Sharon gave the well attended and very interesting talk on the history of the gardens. The gardens, which are close to the A5 near to Chirk, date from just after the Civil War.

She explained its history from the time of the Myddleton family through to the present day. She also told us about the efforts to restore the gardens and particularly the Vinery to its past glory. Work has hardly begun on this restoration but detailed surveys have been completed, thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and help from the likes of Cadw, The National Trust and others.

Sharon’s story also gave a considerable insight into the development of gardens, their buildings and plants from the 17th century.

There is a great resource with lots of detail on the history, and much more, on the Friends of Whitehurst Gardens website.

Here are a selection of photos taken by John Barrett at the meeting.

There was also a raffle and a completion “The last Rose of Summer”.

Here is a photo of Dennis, the winner of the competition.