Walmer Castle and Gardens (English Heritage)

Walmer Castle, situated on the English Channel coast, is a well-maintained garden of 10 acres within a 28-acre estate. It is registered as Grade II listed, and in 2024 was the winner of the European Garden Award. The Tudor era castle is the home of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and many historic figures of national importance have lived in the Castle, some of whom have had a direct influence on the design of the gardens.

The gardens have been developed between c.1790 and the present day, and include decorative shrub borders, a woodland walk, chalk wildflower meadow, formal bedding, croquet lawn, orchard, cutting garden, and decorative glasshouses. The centrepiece to the garden, a double herbaceous border flanked by a mature cloud hedge, provides a stunning backdrop to the Oval Lawn with its stately commemorative trees.

The productive kitchen garden features a wide range of unusual ornamental fruit and vegetables, overhung with traditional Kentish varieties of apples and pears grown in espaliered tiers. The Glasshouse hosts a permanent display of houseplants, cacti and succulents. The kitchen garden is also home to a pot display of over 80 rare snowdrop varieties, and in December 2024 Walmer’s collection of Greatorex Double Snowdrops was awarded National Plant Collection Status by Plant Heritage. There is also the formal Queen Mother’s Garden, designed by Penelope Hobhouse and presented to Her Majesty to mark her Birthday in 1997. The dry Moat around the castle is in the process of being turned into a Jungle Moat with (hardy) large-leaved unusual plantings.

The trainee based at Walmer will work across all aspects of the site, gaining experience in a very varied and diverse historical garden. This offers the opportunity to gain skills such as pruning, perennial border maintenance, vegetable and fruit production, wildlife gardening and hedge cutting.

Placements available: One

Staff numbers: 5 full-time horticulturalists, 1 HBGTP trainee and more than 30 volunteers.

Ease of access: The nearest train station is Walmer, 15 minutes’ walk away and served by the high-speed rail service from London St Pancras. Local bus services from Deal alight opposite the Castle, and there is a bike route running along the sea front to Deal, Sandwich and Ramsgate.

Accommodation: No dedicated accommodation available.