COLCLOUGH WALLED GARDEN

The Colclough estate of Tintern was occupied by the Colclough family from the 16^th Centaury up to the 1960s, Lucy Marie Colclough being the last member to live there.

This Cistercian Abbey was founded in c1203 by William Marshal, the Earl of Pembroke as the result of a vow he had made when his boat was caught in a storm nearby. The Abbey was then colonized by monks from the Cistercian Abbey at Tintern in Monmouthshire, Wales. To distinguish the two, the mother house in Wales was sometimes known as ‘Tintern Major’ and its daughter abbey in Ireland as ‘Tintern de Voto’ (Tintern of the vow).

Colclough Walled Garden is set in a picturesque location in the estuary at Saltmills, the old Abbey has been partly restores showing off the wonderful architecture and displaying a way of life back then.  The estate is farmed but the extensive hardwood woodland provide great habitat for wildlife and flora as well as pleasant winding walking trails for the visitor.

To the rear of the Abbey, accessed by a winding lane through lush woodland is the magnificent 2.5 acres stone and brick lined walled garden that once provided vegetables, fruit, and herbs for the kitchen and flowers for the house.

Just a mere seven years ago, this garden was in a derelict state, completely overgrown: a forgotten space! A local group took it on as a project, cleared it, while carefully retaining older plants and fruit trees, one pear tree is 185 years old. The garden is now a most beautiful space to walk or just sit in, listen to the birds and take in the smells of the soil and the aromatic scents of the flowers all completed by the gentle flow of water travelling in the stream that runs through the garden. The garden is maintained under the watchful eye by Alan Ryan (Project Manager) and his team.

Recently. A Geo Physical survey was undertaken to identify how the original garden was constructed.  Originally working on old maps and records, the survey uncovered the layout of a Victorian Geometric Gardenesque design with diamond shaped flower beds that that play an integral part of the overall garden design. I am looking forward to seeing the finished results of this latest garden restoration in late June of this brick walled Victorian garden.