Roses at Chiltern Open Air Museum

‘Roald Dahl’ Roses next to Leagrave Cottages at Chiltern Open Air Museum

Here at Chiltern Open Air Museum we know that summer is on the way when the roses start to bloom. As you venture around the Museum site this June you’ll see many different types of roses in our traditional cottage gardens.

The UK has only a few truly native wild roses, including the scrambling Dog-rose (Rosa canina) and the Burnet rose (Rosa spinosissima).

Climbing rose ‘The Garland’, with its creamy white and blush-pink blooms is one of the many varieties of roses you’ll encounter in Astleham Manor Cottage Garden.

Rosa ‘The Garland’ at Chiltern Open Air Museum

Astleham Manor Cottage Garden demonstrates the style of Gertrude Jekyll’s garden designs that were famous for blending structured paths and pergolas with a softness of planting. Other climbing roses in Astleham Manor Cottage Garden include ‘Veilchenblau’, ‘Sancy de Parabere’, ‘Mortimer Sackler’ and ‘Adelaide d’Orleans’.

Rosa ‘Mme. Sancy de Parabère’ in Astleham Manor Cottage Garden at Chiltern Open Air Museum

Cultivation of non-native varieties took off in the 13th century. The fragrant Apothecary's Rose (Rosa gallica 'Officinalis') was grown in monastery and manor gardens for its supposed medicinal properties. Rose 'The Herbalist' (bred by David Austin in 1991 and featured outside Astleham Manor Cottage) was was named as an homage to this legendary rose.

Rosa ‘The Herbalist’ outside Astleham Manor Cottage at Chiltern Open Air Museum.

The rose became deeply entrenched in British identity during the Wars of the Roses (1455–1485). The House of Lancaster was symbolized by a red rose, and the House of York by a white rose. When Henry VII united the houses, the Tudor Rose was created, which remains a key emblem across UK heraldry and historic estates today.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the introduction of repeat-flowering roses from China changed British gardening. Prior to this, native and European roses only bloomed once, around midsummer.

The glorious peach coloured blooms outside Henton Mission Room are ‘Roald Dahl’ roses, named after the Buckinghamshire based author.

Rosa ‘Roald Dahl’ at Chiltern Open Air Museum

COAM and the National Gardens Scheme

The gardens at Chiltern Open Air Museum will be open for a special day on Thursday 15 June as part of the National Garden Scheme Open Days. You can book your ticket through their website. Entry on 15 June is limited to the gardens only - the rest of the museum is closed on that day.

Our gardens can be explored as part of admission to the Museum on our regular opening days, when you can also go inside the Museum’s collection of rescued buildings, see heritage craft demonstrations or enjoy living history and vintage events.