Willow Weaving by Windrush Willow
We are thrilled to welcome Windrush Willow to our Marquee Lawn this summer!
Help Gertrude the bat and her flappy friends find the ingredients for their disgustingly-delicious centipede pudding!
If you're planning to visit between Monday 9th September and Friday 13th September, please be aware that there is a diversion in place to get to the main entrance. This is due to Wessex Water works taking place and closing the road along Pitchers Hill in Cheddon Fitzpaine. To see where the road closure is and the diversion, please click here. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
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Gertrude the bat is getting ready to have her flappy friends over for a spooky suppertime snack. Can you help her and her bat buddies find their favourite creepy crawlies to add to their famous centipede pudding?
Join Gertrude the Lesser Horseshoe Bat and her cauldron of bats, Pippin the Pipistrelle, Braxton the Brown Long-eared Bat, Suzie the Serotine and Brandy the Barbastelle, on their hunt for beetles, spiders, earwigs and the golden moth (the secret ingredient to a perfect centipede pudding!)
Explore the spooky Hestercombe estate searching for the gruesome ingredients, add each insect into your booklets recipe page and once you’ve finished show your completed recipe to the restaurant to claim your spooky prize!
During October half-term, we’ll have plenty of family-friendly (but slightly spooky!) events - perfect for burning off some energy. The Hestercombe Barmy Bats trail will have you in a flap, whilst our special events such as visits from creepy crawlies, a spooky science masterclass, scary storytelling and a spellbinding Potion Room, are all the ingredients needed for a spooktacular day out.
Date | What's On |
---|---|
Saturday 16th October | Fungal Foray (11am - 1pm, Adults £10 and children £5 - must be booked in advance) |
Saturday 23rd - Sunday 31st October | The Barmy Bats Trail (all day) |
Saturday 23rd - Sunday 31st October | The Potion Room (all day) |
Monday 25th - Friday 29th October | Autumn Bulb Plantathon (10am - 3pm, drop-in) |
Monday 25th October | Spooky Science with Sciencedipity (10am - 3pm, drop-in) |
Wednesday 27th October | Creepy Crawlies with Exmoor Zoo (10am - 3pm, drop-in) |
Thursday 28th October | Stories of the Untold (10:30am, 12pm, 1:30pm and 3pm - session are 30 mins long and must be booked on the day £3 per child) |
Saturday 30th October | Fungal Foray (11am - 1pm, Adults £10 and children £5 - must be booked in advance) |
Trail price is £2.50 with standard gardens admission.
You can either pay for your gardens admission online, or purchase on the day of your visit at Visitor Reception.
Join as a Hestercombe member from as little as £3.46 a month to get free access to all of our family activities!
Described as “one of the top twenty gardens to visit in the country”, Hestercombe is always beautiful throughout the year. Join today and enjoy unlimited access, with prices from £48 per year.
Give a Gift of Membership to friends and family and they too can enjoy all the benefits of membership.
We are thrilled to welcome Windrush Willow to our Marquee Lawn this summer!
NEW exhibition exploring landscape and environment.
A thank you to our members this September.
Learn the timeless craft of weaving beautiful, functional baskets.
Join Michael Jordan, author and chairman of the Fungus Conservation Trust, for a fun and informative walk to discover and identify mushrooms and toadstools in the gardens
Join us for our Bampfylde Winter Lecture, with guest speaker Annabel Watts, Head Gardener at Munstead Wood.
Time to get spooky with our Halloween Spook-tacular activities!
Chocolate making experience day, including two course lunch