Thorp Perrow Arboretum is an
woodland garden arboretum
An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...
near
Bedale
Bedale ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the district of Hambleton, North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is north of Leeds, south-west of Middlesbrough and south-west of the county town of ...
in
North Yorkshire,
England.
History
Thorp is a common place-name of
Old Norse origin meaning
hamlet or small
village. In the
Domesday Book of 1086 Thorp was a possession of
Count Alan of Brittany. Perrow derives from the lords of the manor of
Pirnhow (also written Pirhou or Pirho) in
Norfolk, who were the earliest known tenants here. In 1286-87 Helewise de Perrow was a tenant.
There is no surviving record of a village at Thorp Perrow. A park called Thorpe Park went with the manor of Thorp Perrow in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Spring Wood was planted in the 16th century, and survives to this day.
Thorp Perrow Hall was built in the early 18th century. Ornamental gardens and lakes were laid out around 1800, and a collection of exotic conifers called Milbank Pinetum was planted between 1840 and 1870 by Lady Augusta Milbank.
The Arboretum was originally created by Colonel
Sir Leonard Ropner
Sir Leonard Ropner, 1st Baronet, MC, DL (26 February 1895 – 12 October 1977) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.
Background
Ropner was the son of William Ropner, third son of Sir Robert Ropner, 1st Baronet. Leonard's ...
(1895–1977)
in 1931. Leonard Ropner also founded several gardens in the park.
Today the Thorp Perrow estate is considered to be one of the finest
arboreta in the
United Kingdom; ''
The Times'' listed it as one of the top ten.
In July 2006 the gardens celebrated their 75th anniversary by planting the 1,750th tree.
The arboretum today
Thorp Perrow is now open to the public. It holds five National Plant Collections:
Tilia
''Tilia'' is a genus of about 30 species of trees or bushes, native throughout most of the temperateness, temperate Northern Hemisphere. The tree is known as linden for the European species, and basswood for North American species. In Britain a ...
(Lime),
Fraxinus
''Fraxinus'' (), common name, commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of Subtropics, subtropic ...
(Ash),
Cotinus (Smoke Bush),
Laburnum and
Juglans (Walnut), and has 48
Champion Trees in its collection.
It also contains a
Birds of Prey Centre, with regular flying demonstrations.
See also
*
Snape, North Yorkshire § Thorp Perrow
References
External links
{{Commons category-inline, Thorp Perrow Arboretum
Official website
Gardens in North Yorkshire
Botanical gardens in Yorkshire
Wensleydale
Arboreta in England
Woodland gardens