Hodsock Priory & Gardens
The gardens at
Hodsock (wonderful name isn't it) Priory are famed for their snowdrops and other winter flowering plants. They are open every day during the snowdrop season from Sat 31st January to Sun 1st March 2009. Open Daily 10am to 4pm (last admission). Ample free parking. Wrap up warm and wear flat shoes! Wide choice of winter flowering plants and bulbs for sale. Admission Charges Adults £4.50, Children 6 – 16 years old £1.00. Dogs
not admitted to gardens or woods but may run in the park. Hot refreshments available all day under cover. Coaches must book in advance by telephone. I have to admit that I don't know if the Priory Gardens are open at any other time of the year – suspect not.
People have lived at Hodsock for well over two thousand years with Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon evidence of food and household rubbish is still being found in the gardens. In 1086 Hodsock was recorded in the Domesday Book:-
'In Odesack (Hodsock) Wulfsi had 2 carucates of land taxable'
From then on there is a record of every owner of the estate. It was later owned by the Cressey family but passed to the Clifton family at the beginning of the fifteenth century though it was not their main family home. The family fought on the Royalist side in the Civil War in the 1640s and was heavily fined and the house declined to the status of a farmhouse. In 1765 Hodsock was sold for the first and only time and was bought by the Mellish family who owned the neighbouring estate at Blyth. It is still owned today by a descendent of the Mellishes and forms the centre of an 800 acre estate.
As far as I can determine the priory is not generally open to the public but is available to hire for private events. Contact 01909 591204 or visit the website www.hodsockpriory.com.