oasis norfolk

Raveningham Gardens in South Norfolk was the choice for an Oasis social outing on Friday 29^th July, none of us had been there before so didn’t know what to expect but it turned out to be a little gem of a place to visit.

Rachel & Susan, Serena, Lilly, Timara, Joanna, Katie, Lorraine and myself Theresa met at the garden car park at 11:00am and immediately set ourselves up at the outside tea hut area. Food choice was limited but homemade quiches and cakes were delicious, an adequate light lunch served up by a very friendly couple who were knowledgeable about the gardens and facilities as well as the history of the Bacon family who’ve owned the estate since 1735.

After a pleasant lunch and lots of chat we made a move to explore the grounds, firstly a walk to the lake taking in the fresh air and scenery, next off to the stumpery, a wonderfully strange but beautiful place quite Jurassic looking, further around the wooded area was a lovely lily pond which looked surprisingly healthy and clean.

The walk around the wooded area was comfortably short so straight after we headed for the garden areas starting with a large expanse of white and blue agapanthus, further on passing various fruit trees we visited the herb and kitchen garden, this was quite amazing, you could see how much work goes into growing the various fruit and veg with full time gardeners visible tending the plants. Susan was impressed with the variety of artichokes being grown, she negotiated a price with one of the gardeners who dug one up for her to take away.

The tea hut was being closed early on this particular day so we all met back there for refreshments mid afternoon, more tea, cake and chat😊😊😊

With plenty of time left before the gardens closing we all headed off to the rose garden passing the main house along the way, the house looked relatively modern compared to some estate houses we’ve visited.

One last place we had time to visit was St Andrew’s church, walking through a re-wilded graveyard we could see the unusual concrete rendered church complete with round tower and castellated top, inside was a bit more traditional but perhaps plain, inside the church virtually every gravestone and plaque was dedicated to Bacon family members. Timara could not resist trying out the church organ, she fired it up and produced some wonderful sounds, church organs are her passion so she was in her element.

The gardens were due to close at 4:00pm so we headed back to the car park to say our goodbyes, everyone thoroughly enjoyed this garden visit and agreed Raveningham was certainly a place to visit again in the future.

Off home we went, time to choose an outfit for Norwich Pride the following day.

Theresa x