A centuries-old Walled Garden at Wentworth Woodhouse has been transformed into a sensory rose garden, in memory of a remarkable Rotherham woman whose passion was gardening.
Margaret Vickers died aged 90 in 2023, after a life filled with adventure. A fall cut short her happy retirement spent gardening at home in Wickersley with her lifetime partner, Audrey Morris. The women met at work in the 1970s and spent over 50 years together. Audrey wanted a last legacy for her partner at Wentworth Woodhouse, a place they loved to visit.
The Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust explained it hoped to restore one of the oldest original parts of the Gardens – a circular walled feature created in the 1730s – and transform it into a rose garden. Audrey decided it would be a fitting tribute and donated £30,000 that has taken the overgrown space into a place of beauty and tranquility. After a private launch for Margaret and Audrey’s friends and family, the Sensory Rose Garden opened on Tuesday 24th June in time for the RHS Flower Show, which runs for the first time at Wentworth Woodhouse from Wednesday 16th July to Sunday 20th July.
Planting was designed by David Austin®, the Shropshire specialists who have been breeding English roses since 1961, and features over 170 David Austin® roses – 50 per cent of which were donated by the company as part of its David Austin® Planting Partnership scheme. Sheffield’s heritage blacksmiths, Ridgeway Forge, restored the Garden’s rusting railings and Grantham-based Heritage Masonry Contracts Ltd. repaired the walls and other brickwork. The rest of the work was tackled by the Trust’s gardeners and volunteers.
Herringthorpe-born Margaret was an adventuress. In her youth, she loved riding her Vespa and mountaineering. She climbed the highest peaks in England, Scotland, and Wales, and took midnight hikes through Derbyshire. She became one of the first people in Rotherham to own a Vespa, was a member of the Sheffield Scooter Club, and helped to launch the Rotherham Club. She was a motorbike and sidecar racer – Margaret’s task was to hang fearlessly out of the sidecar on racetrack corners. She went out on a limb in business too, launching Dial Business Services, a secretarial and printing company, aged 30. Later, she and Audrey set up a typesetting business serving local printers. One regular task was the Lady Mabel College Old Students Association newsletter.
“When Margaret reached retirement age, we closed the business and spent most of our days gardening. She knew all the plant names, even the weeds,” said Audrey, 80. “I was relegated to grass and hedge-cutting, and general tidying up! Margaret loved roses. There were some in the garden when we took on the house in 1979 and we grew our collection with a number from David Austin® Roses. I thought the creation of a rose garden in a place she loved was the perfect tribute,” added Audrey, who has since made a bequest to the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust in her will. “It looks wonderful and as the roses mature, it will become even more beautiful and more heavily-scented. I will go and sit there to remember Margaret and watch the roses grow.”
Liam Beddall, David Austin’s Head of Professional Trade Service and Senior Rose Consultant, commented: “Restoring the Circular Garden at Wentworth Woodhouse has been a privilege and a labour of love. It’s a place where history and nature intertwine, and to see David Austin® Roses thrive here is a true joy. This projects stands as a testament to what careful stewardship and collaboration can create – a living legacy for generations to come.”
Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust’s CEO, Sarah McLeod OBE, said: “Audrey’s generous gift meant we could restore one of our Garden’s prettiest and oldest features. Thanks to the added support of David Austin, whose English roses are loved the world-over, over 170 roses now bloom in Margaret’s memory. Their colours and scent make the Garden an unmissable summer destination for all rose-lovers.”