Gardens
The magnificent 18C gardens of Rousham House, designed by William Kent and virtually unaltered since
Gardens
The Oxfordshire Cotswolds has some of the most beautiful gardens to visit in the UK: one of the finest houses in the country, Blenheim Palace has 100 acres of formal gardens; Kelmscott Manor with its meadow and small formal garden was an inspiration to William Morris; Chastleton House has Jacobean topiary and a herbaceous border planted to Gertrude Jekyll’s ‘JMW Turner’ colour scheme; at Rousham the garden really takes centre stage - it remains almost as its designer, William Kent (1685-1748), left it – one of the few gardens of this date to have escaped alteration; Batsford Arboretum has one of the largest private collections of trees and shrubs in the country.
There are also a number of annual open gardens and flower shows each year, including the Blenheim Palace Flower Show.
