Day Trip: West Lavington Manor & Heale Garden, Wiltshire

The Japanese Garden Society is delighted to invite members to visit two Wiltshire gardens with notable Japanese influences: West Lavington Manor and Heale Garden.

The day will explore two contrasting approaches to Japanese garden design. West Lavington Manor (open via the NGS) features a contemporary Japanese garden within a historic five-acre walled landscape, while Heale Garden contains one of Britain’s most important early twentieth-century Japanese gardens designed by Harold Peto, including an authentic tea house and the renowned Nikko Bridge.

Provisional Agenda
10:30 Arrival and welcome at West Lavington Manor
12:15 – 14:00 Lunch & Transit
14:00 – 16:30 Visit to Heale Garden
16:30 Depart

Times are provisional and may be adjusted prior to the event. Attendees will be notified of any updates via email.

Further Details on the Gardens
West Lavington Manor
A fifteenth-century manor house set within five acres of walled gardens. Features include a Laburnum Walk, herbaceous borders, orchard, arboretum, lake and an authentic Japanese garden.

The Japanese garden was featured in Country Life magazine in 2023 and forms an important part of the estate’s ongoing development. Owner Andrew Doman is expected to join us, and the garden’s designer may also be available to discuss the project.

Heale Garden
In the afternoon, we visit Heale Garden, an important Edwardian Japanese-inspired garden developed between 1906 and 1911 by Louis Greville with designer Harold Ainsworth Peto. Greville’s experience working at the British Embassy in Tokyo strongly influenced the design.
Four Japanese gardeners were brought to Wiltshire to construct a replica Nikko Bridge, a traditional Japanese Tea House and the surrounding tea garden, all of which remain key features today, set among chalk streams, woodland planting and water gardens.
A guided tour by owner, Frances Rasch, or head gardener, Owen Grummitt, may be possible for an additional fee. You will be asked to express your interest in this offer when booking.

Both gardens have partial wheelchair access. Please let us know of additional accessibility requirements when booking.

Lunch
West Lavington Manor does not provide refreshments, but there are several suitable options nearby. Members may:
• Bring a picnic to enjoy within the grounds of West Lavington Manor, where numerous suitable picnic locations are available.
• Take lunch at The Churchill Arms in West Lavington, or the Green Dragon in Market Lavington
• Alternatively, refreshments and light lunches may be available in the tea room at Heale Garden. Picnics are not allowed at Heale.

Further details on lunch options will be provided nearer to the time.

Travel Information
West Lavington and Heale Garden are most easily reached by car. For those travelling by rail, the nearest stations are Pewsey for West Lavington and Salisbury for Heale Garden. Car-sharing arrangements between members may be possible closer to the date.

Costs
West Lavington (£15), Heale (£8). An additional guided tour may be possible for an additional fee. Please express your interest in this offer when booking.

Booking
To reserve your spot, please email: southwest@jgs.org.uk

Booking is open to JGS members in the first instance. If you would like to bring a non-JGS member, please notify the South West team when booking.