Wiltshire’s Grade II-listed Bothy Gardens has launched its 2025 corporate season in style, welcoming The National Trust, Europe’s largest conservation charity, for a day of training and team building inside its historic walled garden.
Owners Jules Gilleland and Mark Wheeler have poured their energy and imagination into reviving this once-forgotten Georgian walled garden on the edge of the Burderop estate at Chiseldon near Swindon.
Since taking it on in 2021, they’ve transformed the site into a living laboratory of creativity, conservation, and curiosity, with a restored Victorian greenhouse, rare plant nurseries, a garden library, and the historic Efford sand bed system, an ingenious Victorian irrigation method. Layers of sand and gravel allowed water to rise evenly through the soil by capillary action, keeping the beds moist and productive without overwatering.
Using this unique space, he training day with the National Trust combined workshops and garden tours, with sessions on climate resilience, soil regeneration, conservation, and horticultural successes.
Among the speakers was Sheila Das, Head of Gardens and Parks, alongside other National Trust specialists. In the afternoon, Mark led a tour of the garden, showing how history and innovation weave together at this unique site.
“Hosting the National Trust felt like the perfect way to start our season,” said Jules. “For us, it’s not just about growing plants, it’s about growing ideas, skills, and connections.”
The day was hosted in ‘Thomas’s Tunnel’, a new 25m polytunnel within the walled garden named in honour of Mark’s father. Once, this walled garden relied on coal-fired furnaces and “bothy boys” who slept beside them to keep peaches and pineapples warm. Today, the garden is once again a hive of activity, this time buzzing with conservation, collaboration, and creativity.
Historic walled gardens can be up to 5°C warmer than the surrounding environment, creating microclimates where Victorians once cultivated exotic fruits such as figs, apricots, and even pineapples, right here in Wiltshire.
“Bothy Gardens is a passion and vocation for me and Jules. To see the beautiful gardens used for so many different events is astounding. Whether we host a volunteer day, a community open day or a corporate event, seeing the place come to life is exhilarating. It feels like we’re honouring the history of the space,” concluded Mark.
With a 60-person classroom now in planning, Bothy Gardens’ Living Lab programme is now open for bookings, offering businesses the chance to connect with nature, history, and each other in one of Wiltshire’s most unusual event spaces. For more information or to book a Living Lab experience, visit: www.bothygardens.com/the-living-lab
Article from Scott Media
