Wrest Park

About Wrest Park

For more than 600 years Wrest was home to the de Grey family, Earls and later Dukes of Kent, and each generation reshaped its grounds. The formal gardens and the Long Water canal date from the 1680s. In the early 18th century Henry, Duke of Kent, laid out a vast formal woodland garden with help from Thomas Archer, Nicholas Hawksmoor, Batty Langley and William Kent. In 1758 his granddaughter Jemima, Marchioness Grey, brought in Capability Brown, who softened the edges while keeping the formal heart.

In the 1830s Thomas, 2nd Earl de Grey, built a new French-style mansion and added matching French-style gardens. After the estate was sold in 1917 it declined, and from 1948 it housed an agricultural research institute. English Heritage took over in 2006 and has been restoring the gardens to how they looked before 1917.

What to see

• The Long Water and Archer Pavilion: the main axis of the garden, ending at a baroque pavilion with a painted domed interior.
• The Great Garden: woodland avenues, canals and garden buildings from the early 18th century.
• Capability Brown's walks: leading to the Chinese Temple and Bridge, the Bowling Green House and a pet cemetery.
• Upper gardens and Orangery: 1830s French-style beds and the Orangery, known from screen appearances.
• Dairy Sculpture Gallery: restored statues too fragile to stand outside, including a Portland stone Neptune and a bronze sundial of 1682.

Planning your visit

Wrest Park is three quarters of a mile east of Silsoe, off the A6 and about 10 miles south of Bedford; Flitwick station is 4 miles away. There is plenty of parking, with disabled spaces in the Walled Garden area.

There is a café with a children's play area beside it, plus toilets at the visitor centre. Toilets in the grounds are not wheelchair accessible, but there is a disabled toilet in the mansion. Free volunteer-led garden tours run on set days in season, and audio guides are available from the admission point. Opening days change through the year, so check the calendar before you travel.