Houghton Hall

The walled garden at Houghton Hall is a 5 ¼ acre ornamental and productive garden nesttled in the grounds of 1000 acres of deer park and farmland. The creation of the current garden started in 1991 as a memorial to the present Lord Cholmondeley’s late Grandmother. In 2007 the garden won the Historic Houses Association garden of the year award. The garden features traditional planting such as herbaceous borders, rose parterre, productive fruit and vegetable gardens and wisteria arbours alongside sculptures, statues, rustic temples and contemporary art.

As a trainee, you who will work alongside the gardening team in our day to day activities, however there will also be opportunities to take on your own areas of responsibilities and projects should you wish to. There is a bit of everything to learn at Houghton including turf care, propagation, glasshouse work including orchid culture and fruit, vegetable and herb gardening. We have a small team so you will be really hands on and involved with all our work.

Ollie Wilkins, Head Gardener: “Houghton Hall is a fantastic place to work and learn. As we don’t specialise in one area, it provides the opportunity to try a bit of everything and find out which you like most. There is so much scope to get involved with what we do and really become part of the team”.

Placement opportunity: 1 year

Staff numbers: 6 full-time gardeners

Ease of access: The estate is 20 minutes’ drive from Kings Lynn, with direct trains to London and 15 minutes from the market town of Fakenham. The estate is close to the North Norfolk coast which is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Accommodation: We can help you to find accommodation locally but none is currently available on site.