***************************************************************** * Gardens-Guide.com * 250,000 UNIQUE VISITORS in 2011 * 2,000 garden pages viewed per day from March to September 2011 * * 1,000+ Page Views! - One-Quarter of all gardens listed on Gardens-Guide.com * were EACH viewed more than 1,000 times in 2011. * * 500+ Page Views! - HALF of all gardens listed on Gardens-Guide.com were * EACH viewed more than 500 times in 2011. * ***************************************************************** *** UPDATE FORM *** Gants Mill & Garden 1) Please COPY the entire FORM BELOW 2) Make any changes in BRIGHT RED -OR- mark changed Section Headers with: *** 3) email the ENTIRE FORM UPDATED backto us: wd (at) armchair-travel (dot) com **************************************************************** **************************************************************** **************************************************************** *** also - SEARCH ENGINE BOOSTING for both YOU and Gardens-Guide.com *** If your webmaster could place a link from your own website directly to your page on Gardens-Guide.com, this will improve it's rankings in Google and other search engines. Please use the following format and info on your own site to link to your page in Gardens-Guide.com: at Gardens-Guide.com http://www.gardens-guide.com The premiere directory of open gardens in the UK and Ireland today Ask your friends and suppliers as well to link to your page in Gardens-Guide as well. Every link we get into your page helps rankings for both of us in search engines. **************************************************************** **************************************************************** **************************************************************** Garden Name: Gants Mill & Garden Last Modified: 13-01-2011 Garden ID: 0556 pic: 0556_Gants_Mill.jpg NOTE: If this says "missing", then please send us a picture for your page which is at least 1000 x 1000 pixels in size. Thanks! Owner: Alison & Brian Shingler Address: Bruton Postcode: BA10 0DB County: Somerset tel: 01749 812393 fax: website: www.gantsmill.co.uk email: shingler //at// gantsmill.co.uk English Heritage Grade: Opening Times: NOTE for 2012: Please check with garden owners or their website to confirm current dates open http://www.gantsmill.co.uk May - Sept; 2nd Sundays; 2pm - 5pm. Mill tours every half hour. Last tour 4pm. Best Times of Year to Visit: Summer To see: Irises (60 varieties), roses, delphiniums, day-lilies and dahlias National Collection: National Garden Scheme days: Yes Comments: Parties / Coaches: Yes Comments: Viewing by Appointment: Yes Comments: for groups of 20+ House Open for Viewing: Yes Comments: Admission Prices: Adult £6, includes guided tour of mill. Adult, Garden only £4; Child £1 All tickets are season tickets Groups (min. 20) £7.50 pp includes tour of the mill, tea and cake. Parking: Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes Shop: Yes Plants for Sale: Yes Lunches: No Teas: Yes Refreshments: Yes Picnics: No Dogs allowed: Yes Only on Lead: Yes Events: No Other Facilities: Conservatory B&B Sculptures for sale Civil licence for garden weddings in the gazebo Features: Working Water Mill which grinds corn and generates electricity for local use and the National Grid. Designer: Philip Brown Description of Garden: A three-quarter acre garden complements the famous water mill and uses the mill stream to great effect as it winds through the garden over waterfalls, through ponds and keeps the bog garden moist before cascading into the river. The colour-themed garden features more than 60 varieties of iris which are supplemented by the delphiniums in June, then climbing roses and clematis over arches and pergolas as the summer progresses. There are also good displays of spider daylilies and over 100 varieties of dahlia, some very unusual. There is also a workaday vegetable garden and a cutting flower garden. A lovely riverside walk up to the top weir, where the leat and river divide, is also worthwhile for the mildly energetic. History: The garden was designed in 1995 by Philip Brown and his plan was implemented over the next six years by the owners themselves, who did the hard landscaping and concentrated on planting summer and autumn perennials. The mill itself, whose location was mentioned in the Domesday Book, dates from 1290 and was originally built by John le Gaunt, hence its name. It was owned for four centuries by the Weston family of local landowners. Documents detailing the complete history of the mill were saved by Sophie Weston, the last of the family and reputedly the model for Sophia Western, heroine of Henry Fielding's novel "Tom Jones". Brian Shingler, the owner and a 6th generation miller, skillfully guides vistors round the mill mechanism and starts it up to show it in action. The working Victorian turbine which grinds the corn, is supplemented by a modern turbine which generates enough electricity for up to ten homes. An altogether fascinating experience which was show-cased by Adam Hart-Davis on television in 2004. Local Inns: Accomodation: Restaurants: Village/Town/Sightseeing: Bruton