Discover more at Colby Woodland Garden
Find out when Colby Woodland Garden is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.
With an industrial past and set in a tranquil secret valley, Colby Woodland Garden is full of surprises. Enjoy shady woodland walks, the wildflower meadow and colourful walled garden. Explore the meadow with its stream, stepping-stones and log bridge and build dens in the woods or take part in one of the seasonal trails. There’s lots to discover when you visit Colby.
There’s plenty to see in early Spring at Colby Woodland Garden as the landscape starts to come alive for Spring. There are little green shoots bursting into snowdrops in the beds on Cwms lane, and soon the Camelias will show-off their blousy blooms along the foot of the west wood. Look out for the bluebell glades when the upper parts of the woodland are carpeted in blue, and their delicate scent is in the air.
It’s also a good time to explore the ‘Sky glade’ at the top of the wood where you can lean on a tree trunk and gaze at the clouds moving across the sky.
From humble beginnings as a kitchen garden, the walled garden was semi-derelict by the 1970s. It was transformed into a formal setting by Mr and Mrs Scourfield-Lewis, who took on Colby Lodge (the on-site house) and the walled garden in the 1980s. The walled garden returned into our care in 2010.
The walled garden is closed during the autumn and winter months, until the 16th March when it will reopen from 10am -4pm daily.
The site played an active part in the Pembrokeshire coal industry during the 1790s, when landowner John Colby acquired it.
The garden only really came into its own in the 1870s when a pharmacist named Samuel Kay bought the land and house, Colby Lodge. He began the planting and his descendants continued the legacy in the 1920s by incorporating ponds and additional horticultural features.
Making the most of the outdoors is easy at Colby Woodland Garden, just think of it as one big adventure playground. Clamber across stepping-stones scattered in the streams and delve into a water world of pond dipping, dam building and wildlife watching.
Colby is colourful all year round, with each season welcoming a new palette of charming colours.
Spring brings carpets of bluebells, crocuses and daffodils followed by swathes of camellias, azaleas and rhododendrons, the garden’s speciality.
Summer sees hydrangeas and wild flowers blossom, and the formal walled garden is a real delight at this time of the year.
Autumn and winter are just as eye-catching with the marvellous tones of acers, dogwoods and sweet-gum.
Find out when Colby Woodland Garden is open, how to get here, the things to see and do and more.
A favourite with locals and visitors alike, the Bothy Tea-room serves delicious lunches and mouth-watering cakes and the Loft Gallery sells hand crafted local products. Our Visitor Centre has a second hand bookshop and souvenirs for the garden.
Long before it became a garden, the Colby estate played an active part in Pembrokeshire’s coal industry. Discover more about the garden and the lives of its occupants.
Colby’s wooded valley is teeming with creatures great and small. Look out for birds, bugs, very rare bats and even the occasional otter.