Rosemoor sits in the Torridge Valley between Dartmoor and Exmoor, a 65-acre garden that started as one woman’s private passion and became, in 1988, a gift to the nation — or at least to its gardeners.
What to see at RHS Garden Rosemoor
RHS Garden Rosemoor covers 65 acres of garden, with over 100 acres of surrounding woodland, near Great Torrington. Four things worth building a visit around:
- The Rose Garden — over 2,000 roses across formal beds — the kind of concentrated colour and scent that makes June and July the months to time a visit around.
- Lady Anne’s Garden — the original private garden, kept much as she made it — smaller in scale and all the more personal for it.
- The Fruit and Vegetable Garden — a genuinely useful kitchen garden for anyone weighing up what actually crops well in a mild, wet South West climate.
- The Lake and Bog Garden — cool, green and quiet, with the arboretum’s specimen trees — including a strong collection of dogwoods and hollies — rising behind it.
The history in brief
Lady Anne Berry began the garden at Rosemoor in 1959 and spent nearly three decades developing it before donating it to the RHS in 1988, on condition it stayed open to the public. Her original planting survives as Lady Anne’s Garden — the most intimate, least formal corner of the site — while the RHS has since added the rose gardens, the arboretum and the surrounding woodland walks.
RHS membership
Entry to RHS Garden Rosemoor is free with RHS membership, along with the RHS’s four other gardens and free or discounted entry to 241 partner gardens across the UK. If you’d visit more than one or two RHS gardens a year, membership usually pays for itself on entry fees alone — and RHS membership currently has 30% off for new members (12 months for the price of 8), until 6 September 2026.
Practical visiting
RHS Garden Rosemoor is open most days of the year, with shorter hours over winter and closures on Christmas Day; book ahead in the school holidays and on RHS Members’ free days, when the car park fills early. There’s a café and plant centre on site. Current opening times, admission prices and any special events are worth checking on the RHS website before you set off — correct as of 16 August 2026, but these things do change with the season.
The RHS’s other gardens
RHS Garden Rosemoor is one of five gardens the RHS runs across the country — each with its own character and worth a detour if you’re in the area:
- RHS Garden Wisley, Surrey
- RHS Garden Hyde Hall, Essex
- RHS Garden Harlow Carr, North Yorkshire
- RHS Garden Bridgewater, Greater Manchester
Back to our full gardening hub for what to plant now, the easiest vegetables to grow, and more days out worth the drive.
Affiliate disclosure: Saturday and Sunday is a member of the Awin affiliate network. When you click through from this page and go on to buy something we may earn a small commission — at no extra cost to you.
0 Comments