Helmsley Walled Garden - York

Angela W.

A wonderful walled garden. From the outside it does not look big but the walled garden is huge.

Greenhouses, kitchen gardens, orchard and a beautiful central border section, this is done by volunteers.

£10 entry and £11 with gift aid. Other ticket options available but see the website.

On site cafe available to.

You can also buy fruit and veg grown for a donation. Plenty in August / Sept / Oct. See the ticket office on arrival.

Allow several hours and take a picnic.

No onsite parking but a 5 minute walk there is a pay and display which is also for the castle.

David C.

Gorgeous community garden just off the centre of Helmsley. Wide variety of planting and areas of pocket gardening from formal to nice wild areas. Community growing plots in places as well areas of orchard. The colour was lovely when we were there in mid July especially in the herbaceous borders. Staff were very friendly and helpful, and there is a small garden shop as well as a cafe. Overall, well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Liz H.

Visited as we had a 2 for 1 Gardeners World voucher which allowed 2 in for £10. This can ONLY be used on Fridays so please be aware of this. In one way it is good as this is market day but it can mean finding somewhere to park a nightmare.

We visited at the beginning of May. Not the best time for going as most of the spring bulbs and blossom have gone over but we knew this would be the case. Having said that there was still some pops of colours around and it's nice to see the Summer plants starting to get ready to do their thing.

Some interesting sculptures dotted about. I am not into modern sculpture but I was drawn to these.

The staff/volunteers that we met in the garden were very pleasant and knowledgeable.

All in all a very pleasant way to spend an hour on a good day. Not sure we would have paid the full price of £10 per person though

There is a cafe which can be used without paying to go in the gardens. It is set up in the old vinery and looks very pleasant. We did not visit on this occasion.

There is a small area selling plants and a small gardening shop.

We have given only four stars because of
1) the length of time it took to pay to get in (someone at the front signing up to something - having a second volunteer around for this would have been most useful!)
2) being overrun by dogs in one area!! We couldn't get passed them! But this is the owners fault not the Gardens I guess
3) we would have liked more labels on the perennials
4) we couldn't enter the Orchid House as someone was doing a painting class. So disappointing.

George W.

Beautiful victorian walled garden. Lovely sunny day when we called, parked for free in town and walked about ten minutes to the garden.Great selection of trees and plants, with wildlife areas, small local allotments, trained fruit trees and sculptures. Also area with chickens and ducks. Especially enjoyed the hot houses with orchids. Great cafe next door for lunch.One of the best walled gardens we have been to. Both joined for the year which cost £16 each (£10 basic admission fee) which is very reasonable. Can easily spend a few hours wandering round the gardens. Picnic tables available and accessible toilets in the café. Also a shop where you can buy plants, books etc. We travelled about an hour but it's worth it, always check opening times before you travel. Dogs are allowed all round the gardens.Plenty of paid parking about five mins walk away or park for free on the streets in the town.

Jane M.

Visited the wall garden on one of the fine sunny days and loved it. The volunteers are very friendly and obviously love their work. It is a great place to just sit and watch nature. Their policy of being able to walk on the grass and touch and smell the plants make for a very pleasant visit.
It is an RHS member garden if visiting on Wednesdays.

A340 F.

Was able to gain a 2 for 1 entry with RHS membership so admission was £11 with gift aid as nice as the garden is not sure it's would be worth £20 admission (2 adults) however there is lots to see and the gardenimg staff are only to pleased to answer any questions, if they didn't know the answer they would certainly try and find out from colleagues, there is a onsight restaurant that has inside and outside seating areas the food is good quality and reasonably priced. No on site carpark but large public carpark close by.

Frank R.

On Sunday, 17 September 2023, I had my first visit to Helmsley. I was unpleasantly surprised by awful service in a local bar, which made me fear that this was a village that did not welcome strangers. After wandering around the village and visiting the fascinating church and a bookshop that disappointingly did not sell second hand books, my sister and her husband suggested that we visit this walled garden. My mood was not great after walking around a village that was clearly very popular and yet seemed strangely unwelcoming, and I had lost all appetite for walking around a garden. However we had a delightful cup of tea in the cafe by the garden and this lifted my spirit and my desire to see the garden. I am SO glad I did. The garden is superb. One of the best of its kind I have visited in England. Glorious flowers, plants and fruit trees, wonderful peaceful setting, with the backdrop of the ruined castle, and a place for quiet reflection. Even in late summer, the gardens are outstanding. The chickens here have a happy and privileged life! I love walled gardens. And this one is very special. As the garden was closing when we left I had only a very short time to visit the bookshop but it was wonderful, as was the lady working there and selling tickets to the garden. Could have bought many things in the excellent shop (huge stock of jams, chutneys, sauces etc), which contained a small but excellent collection of books and some wonderful greeting cards and other things. As it was I made an impulse buy of a beautiful framed colour print of the garden, only £20. Wonderful place. Will come again soon I hope with my children.

Katarzyna T.

Beautiful little gardens. It was lovely to walk around with our 1year old. She was loving the flowers. There are some nice areas to sit down and listen to the birds. You can also admire the view of the Helmsley castle. I just think that they are rather small and £8 per person is on an expensive side when you think how small they are. Probably take a good half an hour to see everything. But still beautiful gardens.