All the fun of the (wedding fair) at Mount Ephraim

If you’re planning your special day, and have found the frock, the shoes, the band and the groom but are still looking for somewhere for it all to unfold, then the lavish grounds of Mount Ephraim Gardens might have some ideas for you as it hosts a Wedding Open Day on Sunday 27th October from 2pm-5pm.

The ten-acre classical gardens set in the idyllic Kent countryside offers an outdoor wedding setting in picturesque grounds in the village of Hernhill in Kent. The private home with its sweeping staircase, high ceilings, stunning 360-degree views over t beautiful gardens, with its idyllic romantic wedding pavilion provides a magical,  romantic place to host your wedding ceremony and reception.

A spacious wedding suite is big enough for the bride and bridesmaids to hang out, and with five on-site bed and breakfast rooms and the recent addition of a  Garden Wing providing luxurious self-catering accommodation for twelve, there’s certainly lenty of room for the wedding party to stay.

The Wedding Open Day on  27th October offers a chance to meet Mount Ephraim’s dedicated Wedding Team and their favourite suppliers, all with the purpose of creating and making your dream day come true. The Open Day offers free entry and free parking, and the promise of make-up and hair trials, goodie bags for all prospective brides and Prosecco and canapes on arrival. All you need now is the confetti and shoes suitable for dancing…

Find out more online here.

Pip, pip: Apple Sunday at Mount Ephraim

The lovely grounds of Mount Ephraim Gardens will once again be hosting its seasonal celebration of The Apple in its last event of the summer on Sunday 15 September.

Image (c): Mount Ephraim Gardens

Open from 11am to 5pm, the annual Apple Sunday features tours and tastings, and includes fabulous Birds of Prey displays at 12.30pm & 2.30pm. The terrace will host live music from local group Cloud Nine Jazz between 2pm to 4pm, and there’s the mouth-watering prospect of wine tastings from Chartham Vineyards. A variety of suitably apple-themed refreshments will also served from the Garden Tea Room, and the event includes activities for children.

Usual garden entrance applies for this event: £7 adults / £2.50 children (aged 4 – 16) / £17 family ticket (2 adults and 2 children), and there is free parking for all visitors

Tickets available here; a feast of fruit next weekend as the summer season draws to a close.

Eggciting times ahead at Mount Ephraim

There’s plenty to get eggcited about over Easter at Mount Ephraim Gardens, including an Easter Egg Trail over the Bank Holiday Weekend.

Over Sunday 21 and Monday 22 April, families can enjoy seasonal events at Mount Ephraim; and looking ahead to the May Bank Holiday, the popular Pat-a-Lamb event returns. The Gardens and Tea Room will officially open next week, on Weds 3 April.

Image (c) Mount Ephraim Gardens

Whether you’re eggstatic about Easter or feeling a little sheepish, find out what’s going on online here.

(No more puns, we promise…)

‘Have A Go’ Crafts Day at Mount Ephraim Gardens Sun 28 June

This Sunday, Mount Ephraim Gardens is hosting a ‘Have A Go’ Crafts day, offering you the opportunity to try an array of crafts.

Click to enlarge

If you’ve yearned to try your hand at stained-glass, wo0d-turning, jewellery-making or knitting, these are just some of the activities available between 1-5pm on Sunday 28 June. Activities will take place in the normal garden, for which the usual entry fee applies.

Crafts Centre opens Easter weekend at Mount Ephraim Gardens

With spring set to burst into life, you’ll find Hernhill Crafts Centre doing much the same thing on Easter weekend – and beyond.

Situated in the Stable Block at Mount Ephraim Gardens, a few yards from the entrance Kiosk, the  Centre opens on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday, April 5th & 6th from 12 noon until 5.00pm. each day. The centre will then open every Sunday and on Bank Holidays until the end of September.

The crafts centre offers a wide variety of attractive items including jams, chutneys, jewellery, greetings cards, knitwear and pottery; a great opportunity to find that last-minute birthday present, or to find something a little out-of-the-ordinary as a special gift.

Find it at Mount Ephraim Gardens, just off the A2 between Faversham and Canterbury; it all starts Easter weekend!

Feeling sheepish: Pat-A-Lamb at Mount Ephraim

Mount Ephraim Gardens will be hosting its annual Pat-a-Lamb on Sunday 4 and Monday 5 May, as families can get up close to lambs only a few weeks old as well as enjoy the scenic views and gardens in one of Kent’s popular visitor attractions.

The weekend has been entertaining children and families for twenty-eight years, and this year visitors will be enchanted and delighted by well-loved children’s tales read by the creator of comedy acting troupe and regular visitors to Mount Ephraim, The Pantaloons.

The glorious blossoms should be in full bloom throughout the gardens and in particular in the magnificent arboretum, as also should the farm’s orchards for the Bank Holiday.

Visitors can enjoy the ten acres of Edwardian gardens including the Japanese rock garden, water garden, lake and the grass maze ideal for picnics and with a play area for children. The gardens also boast the Topiary Tea Rooms for a delicious cream tea whilst overlooking the stunning topiary and herbaceous border.

Pat-a-Lamb Day is open from 11am until 5pm on Sunday 4th and Monday 5th May; entry is £6 for adults and £2.50 for children. For more information visit Mount Ephraim Gardens website or call 01227 751496.

Vintage Day Out at Mount Ephraim

There promises to be a Gloriously Vintage Day Out at Mount Ephraim Gardens on Sunday 11 May. Vintage cars, craft suppliers, live music and children’s entertainment, plus much more, is promised.

Adult entry £6, children go free. Get the date in your diaries now!

Being Fruitful: Cherry Day at Mount Ephraim Gardens

There’s a celebration of Kentish cherries and family fun next weekend, as Mount Ephraim Gardens hosts its annual Cherry Day event on Sunday 30 June, with the best of Kentish cherries on a real family-run farm.

Visitors can enjoy walking tours of the award-winning cherry orchards, showing how cherries are grown commercially on a working farm and a chance to sample them fresh off the trees!

Cherries will also be available for tastings and for sale, and there’s also a Best of Kent Farmers’ Market with a fine selection of Kentish foods including breads, cheeses, meat, fudge, chutneys and much more.

Younger guests can be entertained by The Flower Fairies with storytelling in the Willow Circle, face-painting and the opportunity to try out the new Animal and Nature trails. The Hernhill Crafts Centre will be demonstrating wool-spinning and guests can have a go on a pottery wheel to try their hand at making pottery.

Or you can take a stroll and enjoy ten acres of Edwardian gardens including the Japanese rock garden, water garden, lake and the grass maze ideal for picnics and with a play area for children. The gardens also host the Woodrose Tea Rooms serving delicious cream teas and cherry-based recipes, whilst overlooking the stunning topiary and herbaceous border area and enjoying music from local musicians.

Cherry Day is open from 11am until 5pm on Sunday 30th June. Prices are £6 for adults and £2.50 for children.

For more information, visit Mount Ephraim’s website here or call 01227 751496.

Vintage Day at Mount Ephraim

Join in the fun at Mount Ephraim on May 12th.

From 11am-5pm, the fabulous surroundings of Mount Ephraim Gardens will host a vintage spectacular with wedding suppliers, kitsch and stitch stalls, home-wares, vintage clothing, retro caravans, kitchenalia, afternoon teas, and VW Beetles.

There will also be children’s entertainment in the glorious gardens.

Entrance is £6 adults and £2.50 children (aged 4 – 16). See details online here.

The Pantaloons are coming!

Wild, whacky, inventive and delightfully entertaining; the Pantaloons return to Mount Ephraim Gardens on Monday 27 August at 4pm with their production of Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy, The Importance of Being Earnest.

Image credit: Pantaloons’ website

Currently on tour throughout the country, their visit to Mount Ephraim last year with Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales was a fantastic and inventive evening’s entertainment for grown-ups and children alike (you can read our review of the occasion here).

Tickets can be booked online here, or find out more about The Pantaloons on their website here. Not to be missed…