| The Weir Garden | |
| Map: | Herefordshire |
| Label: | The Weir Garden |
| Mark: | UK Tourist Sign T101 - National Trust property.svg |
| Location: | Stretton Sugwas |
| Nearest City: | Hereford |
| Grid Ref Uk: | SO 43505 41913 |
| Coordinates: | 52.0725°N -2.8256°W |
| Water: | River Wye |
| Website: | https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/worcestershire-herefordshire/the-weir-garden |
The Weir Garden is a National Trust property near Swainshill (see Stretton Sugwas), Herefordshire, lying alongside the River Wye 5miles west of Hereford on the A438 road.[1]
The garden covers 10 acres (4 hectares), and was the creation of its prior owner, Roger Parr, and his head gardener, William Boulter. The adjoining house is used as a nursing home and is not open to the public.[2]
The south-facing aspect of the garden allows for a wide variety of plantings, and this, combined with the riverside, attracts a notable variety of wildlife. Notable birds include blackcaps, mute swans, kingfishers, goosanders and in summer, sand martins, whilst teal often over-winter here. There are also a great many insects, including the rare club-tailed dragonfly, banded demoiselle damselflies and white-legged damselflies, as well as a range of butterflies, hoverflies and crickets.[2]
The ruins of a Roman temple possibly associated with a high-status Roman villa, which may have connections to the nearby Roman town of Magnis, lie inside the Weir Garden by the River Wye. There is an octagonal cistern filled by a spring and a ruined buttress by the river. These are the highest standing Roman ruins in Herefordshire.[3] [4]
, the property is open from 10:30 to 16:30, every day until 5 November and then from 10:30 to 16:00 on weekends, except Christmas Eve, for the rest of the year.[5]