Salle Park visit, Wed Aug 25th, 2021

The house at Salle Park was built in 1763 and is grade 11 listed along with the park and gardens which extend to 75 hectares. The house was purchased in 1890 by Major Timothy White of chemist fame, and the ancestor of the present occupant Sir John White who was kind enough to allow four groups of members to visit on two separate days.

Formal lawns and two rose gardens are in front of the house together with an avenue of clipped yew which extends to a ha-ha. The house has a very attractive orangery on the side of the house where the members on my tour had tea and cake. The glory of the visit was the walled garden, bursting with flowers and fruit and vegetables.

Tom Barwick the head gardener, a very engaging character, showed us around and explained their zero cultivation methods and use of mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture. We all admired the onion drying stand which was full of different varieties of onions. The produce looked magnificent and we all enjoyed walking around the extensive garden and greenhouses. The majority of the produce is used on the estate and during the summer of 2021 the estate had the choir from Trinity College, Cambridge camping in the park whilst practising their art, who were fed with vegetables from the walled garden.