Wentworth Woodhouse: Centuries-old walled garden at Yorkshire country house transformed into sensory rose garden

The Preservation Trust explained it hoped to restore one of the oldest original parts of the gardens, a circular walled feature created in the 1730s, and transform it into a rose garden, and Audrey decided it would be a fitting tribute to Margaret, who she met in the 1970s and spent more than 50 years with.

Audrey’s donation of £30,000 has taken the overgrown space into a place of beauty and tranquility. After a private launch for Margaret and Audrey’s friends and family, the Sensory Rose Garden opened last in time for the RHS Flower Show, which runs for the first time at Wentworth from July 16-25.

Planting was designed by rose specialists David Austin, and features more than 170 of its roses, 50 per cent of which were donated by the company as part of its David Austin Planting Partnership scheme.

Herringthorpe-born Margaret, who lived in Wickersley, near Rotherham was an adventurer. In her youth she loved riding her Vespa scooter and mountaineering.

She climbed the highest peaks in England, Scotland and Wales, and took midnight hikes through Derbyshire.

She became one of the first people in Rotherham to own a Vespa, was a member of the Sheffield Scooter Club and helped to launch the Rotherham club. She was a motorbike and sidecar racer. Margaret’s task was to hang out of the sidecar on racetrack corners.

She launched Dial Business Services, a secretarial and printing company, aged 30, and later, she and Audrey set up a typesetting business serving local printers. One regular task was the Lady Mabel College Old Students Association’s newsletter, the college which was based at Wentworth Woodhouse.

“When Margaret reached retirement age we closed the business and spent most of our days gardening. She knew all the plant names, even the weeds,” said Audrey, 80. “I was relegated to grass and hedge-cutting and general tidying up.

“Margaret loved roses. There were some in the garden when we took on the house in 1979 and we grew our collection with a number from David Austin Roses.

“I thought the creation of a rose garden in a place she loved was the perfect tribute,” added Audrey, who has since made a bequest to the Preservation Trust in her will.

“It looks wonderful and as the roses mature, it will become even more beautiful and more heavily-scented. I will go and sit there to remember Margaret and watch the roses grow.”

Liam Beddall, David Austin’s Head of Professional Trade Services and senior rose consultant, said: “Restoring the circular garden at Wentworth Woodhouse has been a privilege and a labour of love. “This project stands as a testament to what careful stewardship and collaboration can create, a living legacy for generations to come.”