With ticket proceeds to town charities… 

Kim and Whit Hanks, owners of Abbey House Manor and The Old Bell Hotel, Malmesbury are delighted to announce the re-opening of Abbey House Manor gardens for the 2022 season. From May to October, the gardens will be open on the second Saturday of each month with all ticket proceeds going to Malmesbury Carnival for distribution to local charities. The first open day will be on 14 May 2022 from 10am to 4pm.

Whit explains “We’re thrilled to have secured the services of the Award Winning team at Graduate Gardeners’ with Head Gardener, Freya Langford formerly of BBC TV Gardeners’ World. We expect at least a two-year journey to restore and reimagine Abbey House Manor gardens into exquisite gardens full of colour, scent and personality. We intend to open for the 2022 season once a month to allow visitors the opportunity to follow the first part of this journey. The ticket price will reflect the fact that much of the garden will not be ready for viewing, and we have decided to give all first season proceeds to charity”.   

Another exciting announcement is that volunteers from the Malmesbury Community will be on hand to look after visitors at each of the open days, having been briefed by Freya on the garden’s progress. A steering group chaired by Diana D’Arcy is bringing together those who are interested, if anyone would like to volunteer, please email info@abbeyhousemanor.com

For refreshments this season, the team will direct visitors to local cafes and pubs and encourage them to stay a while and visit local attractions such as Malmesbury Abbey or the Athelstan Museum, taking advantage of the 2 hours free parking in the Long Stay car park. Tickets to the open days will shortly be available for £5 in advance online from the new Abbey House Manor website. Follow @abbeyhousemanor on Facebook and Instagram for more information.