Press Release
DECEMBER FREE ENTRY TO THE SAVILL GARDEN AND CHRISTMAS WALKS THROUGHOUT THE HOLIDAYS IN THE ROYAL LANDSCAPE
7 November 2008
The Savill Garden, part of The Royal Landscape within Windsor Great Park, is free throughout December. This is an excellent opportunity to experience the tranquil and understated beauty of the garden in winter, together with wonderful surprises including the flowers of mahonias and witch hazels, the vibrant red, yellow and orange stems of dogwoods and a wide range of berrying plants. Conifers are conspicuous in the landscape and contrast with the rugged oaks and majestic beech trees. The New Zealand Garden has a great deal to offer in winter, including a host of evergreen plants and the textural delights of masses of striking tussock grasses. The newly refurbished Queen Elizabeth Temperate House will have colourful Christmas displays to enjoy including glorious red and white varieties of poinsettias.
The Royal Landscape provides fantastic walks throughout the festive season. The Valley Gardens and Virginia Water are open every day, including Christmas Day and Boxing Day; and The Savill Garden is open daily except Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The Valley Gardens cover some 100 hectares (250 acres), and visitors can wander for hours on the slopes, among the plantings and along the twisting paths. The structure of the gardens is revealed from under the summer canopy of leaf and visitors can appreciate the wonderful range of tree shapes and all the different colours and textures of bark. The willows and acers with their flaming branches, the grey eucalyptus trunks and graphic white and black of birch play against the deep green of the many conifers. Winter-flowering heathers bring colour and diversity to the Heather Garden while the berries of the many different hollies brighten the shrubberies. Witch hazels flower, spreading their heady scent and, as the year turns, early-flowering rhododendrons give a taste of the splendours to come.
Virginia Water was created as a playground for kings and queens in the eighteenth century and, at the time, it was the biggest man-made lake in Britain. Today, over 500,000 people come to enjoy Virginia Water lake, The Cascade and the beautiful landscape every year.
After a refreshing walk, drop into the award winning Savill Building which provides excellent visitor facilities including a gift shop, exhibition area, art gallery and self-service restaurant offering hot and cold food and traditional cream teas.
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