Whinfell Quarry Garden and Whirlow Brook Park

This was an opportunity to visit two adjacent gardens in south west Sheffield which were both originally in private ownership and both are on land that originally belonged to the Duke of Devonshire’s estate.

They are now in public ownership and are good case studies about what can happen to significant gardens when their owners move on and they become part of the public domain. Both have active Friends Groups who hosted our visits.

Whinfell Quarry Garden, registered Grade 2, belonged to Samuel Doncaster, a Quaker and one of the important steel masters. The Backhouse nursery laid out the very impressive quarry garden at the end of the 19th century and Clarence Elliot laid out a small alpine garden some years later. The house no longer exists and the grounds were acquired by Sheffield City and are run as a public access park. Our visit should coincide with a good range of rhododendron colour.

Whirlow Brook is a little later. Again, Backhouses worked there although whether just on the rock gardens or across the whole landscape is not clear. The park also now belongs to Sheffield City and, again, is run as a public park. The house stills exists and is now run as a wedding venue, independent of the city council, and there is a small café, The Shelter, also independently run.

A full report will be posted here shortly