Following in our founder’s footsteps

Westonbirt, The National Arboretum owes its existence and character to the vision of the Holford family, who lavished their wealth on the estate for over a century. The story of the arboretum starts with Robert Stayner Holford, who inherited the Estate in 1838. At this time entertaining guests at one’s country estate was the height of fashion for the wealthy elite, and Robert set about creating a landscape to rival all comers.
Unlike other Victorian collections, Robert designed Westonbirt according to an aesthetic blueprint known as the picturesque, the three key principles of which are
• Variety e.g. found in the outline of plantings and in the shape and colour of adjacent trees
• Intricacy added due to positioning of evergreen plantings to hide bays and glades
• Gradual transition or connection between the elements ensures a ‘harmonious whole’
He planned his new landscape to radiate out from his country residence, Westonbirt House (now a private school). From here he and his guests would have entered the arboretum by carriage through Lodge Gate. Once inside they would have followed carefully planned ‘routes’ stopping occasionally to admire a series of tasteful views.