The Reconstructed Period Gardens
The Manor House is a museum showing
how people lived in Medieval, Tudor and Stuart times. Surrounding the Manor, are period gardens and
woodland planted as part
of the development of the National Forest.
The Flower Garden
- The flower garden at the Manor house makes use of books produced by seventeenth century plant collectors to provide details of the flowers in a garden of that time.
- The area nearest the house contains plants listed in the catalogue of John Lucas, first published in 1607. In the beds further from the house are plants varieties from the catalogues of the two John Trandescants (father and son) printed in 1677.
The Herb Garden.
- From the medieval period, a house such as Donington would need its own supply of herbs for use in the kitchen. There would also be a range of medicinal plants to make the much used remedies for everyday illnesses and complaints.
- The herb garden at Donington contains a wide assortment of the plants that would have been used at the time.
The Ornamental Maze
- A popular feature of seventeenth century formal gardens was an ornamental maze. These were a development of the Elizabethan decorative knot gardens of the previous century. The maze at the Manor House has been re-modelled and is open to visitors.
The Orchard
- The orchard at Donington was planted in the winter of 2000 by the the staff and members of the Friends of Donington le Heath Manor House.
- It contains varieties of apple, pear, quince, medlar, gage, cherry, plums and filberts which would have been found in the orchard of the manor house across its long history.
The Wildlife at Donington
- The wide variety of trees, hedges and garden plants around the museum at Donington provide a good range of habitat for the local wildlife.
Page Last Updated: 21 February 2007
