Bushey Rose Garden

Park

Explorer Tom

Bushey Rose Garden has the manners of a formal garden and the backstory of an art school with a flair for drama. Roses and clipped lines occupy ground where hundreds of painters once studied. The result is a little Hertfordshire garden that can make a short visit feel surprisingly full. Artist Hubert von Herkomer ran his school here from 1883 to 1904. His former pupil Lucy Kemp-Welsh later opened her own school on the site. In 1912 Herkomer demolished the school and asked landscape architect Thomas Mawson to design a garden; by local account, they settled the fee with a portrait swap. The sunken garden, fountain, summer house and pergola still express Mawson's plan. The cloisters are rescued remnants of the school, returned to this ground after a curious detour elsewhere. Follow the garden's lines rather than simply counting rose blooms. The old cloisters make a good place to imagine students carrying sketchbooks, while the restored fountain gives the centre its rhythm. The council revived the neglected site in 2010 and replanted thousands of specimens. In colder months the architecture holds the story when the roses have sensibly gone off duty. The garden is free and normally opens 7.30am to 4pm from October to March, with longer hours in the warmer half of the year. It is just off Bushey High Street; use nearby public parking rather than the residential roads. Check the council's current notice for changes. Give this small patch of art history a proper slow circuit.