Hill Close Gardens & Lord Leycester Hospital - Hidden Gems of Warwick

Wednesday 6th May

Hill Close Gardens is a group of surviving Victorian detached gardens in Warwick. These were set up in the 19th century on a hillside overlooking Warwick Racecourse to provide gardens for owners of townhouses who did not have their own. 

Many of them had summer houses built so the family could spend the entire day in the garden, whatever the weather. 

They fell into disuse in the 20th century with only one or two remaining in use after WWII. The restored gardens reopened to the public in 2007 and offer an extremely rare opportunity to visit sixteen hedged Victorian pleasure gardens, reconstructed to capture the planting and personality of their original owners. 

Our garden tour is arranged at 11am with tea/coffee and cake to begin.

Free time can be spent in Warwick for lunch and then at 2pm we arrive at our afternoon visit for a tour.

The Lord Leycester Hospital has never been a medical establishment.  The ‘hospital’ is used in its ancient sense meaning “a charitable institution for the housing and maintenance of the needy, infirm or aged”.

The Hospital is an historic group of timber-framed buildings on Warwick High Street dating mainly from the late 14th Century clustered round the Norman gateway into the town with its 12th Century Chantry Chapel above it.

The Guild of St George was created under a license issued by King Richard II on 20th April, 1383 and Thomas Beauchamp granted the benefice of the Chantry Chapel to the Guild on its formation. Sometime between 1386 and 1413, the Guild of the Blessed Virgin, based at the Collegiate Church of St Mary, joined the Guild of St George at the West Gate. To accommodate the resident priests and the guilds, reception, meeting and dining halls were built as well as living quarters. 

Within the hospital, the Brethrens Kitchen was established 1571 however it has been in constant use as a kitchen since 1383.  

There will be time after the tour for a tea/coffee before heading home.

Timings: Leave Leominster 8:00am., Hereford 8:30am., Ross 9:15am. We will depart and travel back to Ross 6:00pm, Hereford 6:30pm and Leominster 7:00pm.

Costs: Including entry, morning & afternoon tea/coffee and travel costs £61.00 per person 

£61.00