tabs/png

Baker's Arms Holiday Cottages

South Perrott, Dorset

This is an owners own site, run by Richard and Mary Torrens.

The gardens at Bakers Arms

The garden at Bakers Arms is in Dorset's Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It is some 250m long with the River Parrett threading through it. The total area is a little over 2 acres. It is mostly open woodland, not only because there are some specimen trees but also because there has been little serious garden maintenance for the past 20 years, so trees that were once hedged have grown. The garden is divided into several different rooms.

At the north end, furthest from the house and cottages, is what was clearly once a quarry - probably medieval and quite probably the source of the stone that built Mohun Castle whose earthworks are still visible some 300 metres to the south. The land to the west of this quarry is some nearly 14 metres above the river to the east.

This area now has some splendid tall trees making it something of a park-like area. South of this is a more open section of the old quarry where apple trees grow. Both of these areas have a spring in, though little has been done with these and they are seasonal. The River Parrett's headwaters run along the east side of these two rooms.

To get to these two north rooms a bridge crosses the river. South of the river are more rooms including a private lawn for the use of visitors.

Approach to the garden is through the old skittle alley, now roofless, or via a tunnel-like path to the west of the skittle alley.

The gardens are a pleasant place to walk your dog or to take a picnic, or just to sit. We shall be working on them for many years to restore some of their past glory, so if you want a working holiday, do contact us!

Page Information

Valid HTML 4.01! Valid CSS! Document URI: https://westdorset.org/garden/index.html
Page first published 17th of July, 2020
Last modified: Sun, 16 Mar 2025 10:16:11 GMT ©2020 - 2025 Richard John Torrens