Join Arthur Cole & Head Beekeeper, Paula Carnell, as they lead you on a Dawn Walk encoutering the first forage of the year for the bees before settling down beside the fires of the Garden Cafe for a hearty cooked breakfast.

*Dates subject to vary according to weather conditions - you will be notified of this in advance.

"A comely sight indeed it is to see, a world of blossoms on an apple tree", John Bunyan (1628-1688). Join Andy ‘Apples’ Lewis, our Specialist Fruit Grower, as he leads a masterclass on successful grafting of apple trees.

The small-group session will cover why, when and how to graft. By the end of the class you will have four apple trees to plant at home and grow over the years to come - including the Yarlington Mill variety, a cyder apple close to our heart as it was first discovered less than a mile from our estate.

The day begins with a walk through the Parabola, discussing the unique collection and the role that grafting had to play in its creation. You will prune scion wood from your choice of 300 apple cultivars and then graft it onto rootstock.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

"The trees which are pruned, watered and nurtured by caring hands bear the greatest fruits; it is the same with people." - Bryant H. McGill.

Join Andy ‘Apples’ Lewis, Specialist Fruit Grower, as he leads a day of winter pruning fruit trees in the garden.

The day begins by becoming acquainted with the fruit trees in the garden and your tools. Andy then guides you as you prune different trees to a variety of styles. You cover why to prune, when to prune, where to prune and how to prune different forms (espalier, step-overs, single cordons, double cordons, Belgian fence). Several species of fruit tree are worked on giving you a comprehensive understanding of how to prune fruit regardless of the size of your balcony, garden, allotment or farm.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch.

This event blends two key moments in the estate calendar: the late winter prune of our orchards and Wassail. Wassail is an ancient rural tradition with its sources in early pagan times. It entails visiting orchards to chase out evil spirits that may have squatted for too long in the boughs of the dormant trees, then cyder and song is offered-up to entice the good spirits to take residence in the trees and ensure a bountiful harvest. Explosive celebration is the order of the evening with hearty Somerset fare washed down with lashings of cyder.

The day begins with an introduction by Andy ‘Apples’ Lewis, Specialist Fruit Grower, who leads you over to the cyder orchards to learn the art of pruning apple trees. Lunch is served in the Farmyard Kitchen. Once you have indulged to your pleasure you are led back to the main gardens and into the Cyder Cellar, where the King of Wassail imparts his knowledge and experience of cyder on an exclusive tasting. On completion of the tasting you are now fully prepared for the evening’s main event: Wassail! Become a Newt for a night and join the team in shooing-out the evil spirits from the apple trees, encouraging in the benign spirits, toasting good health, quaffing cyder and breaking bread to cannon-fire and live music

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing. Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, lunch at the Farmyard Kitchen, cyder tasting in Cyder Cellar, Wassail Supper.

Learn the tips and tricks to successful indoor gardening no matter the size of your space. House plants bring life, good vibes and an increase in oxygen levels into the home.

Nurseryman and indoor gardening specialist, Sam Harris, leads you through: plant choices, positioning, soil considerations, feeding, watering, pest & diseases, flowering, propagation & combination planting. You will choose your prefered selection of species and plant-up an indoor planter to take home with you along with the knowledge gained from our resident expert.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Join Arthur Cole as he leads you on a Dawn Walk to come face-to-face with the early emerging life of the Estate before heading back to the Garden Café for a hearty cooked breakfast.

Botanical illustration has played a crucial role in advancing the study of botany since De Materia Medica (approx. 50-70AD), and then with huge advances in materials and paints in the 17th Century with artists such as Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), further finesses in the 18th Century with the likes of Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1766 - 1854), the proliferation of botanical paintings in the 19th Century with greats such as Marianne North (1830-1890) up until contemporary illustrators such as Tiffany Bozic.

This workshop helps you how to look at plants and gives you an opportunity to develop your own botanical painting skills. The day begins with a wander through the gardens, collecting target specimens which you will then spend the day painting under the guidance of established botanical watercolour artist, Camilla Clutterbuck, before going for lunch at the Garden Cafe.

Includes: Tea & coffee with signature cinnamon bun upon arrival, followed by lunch in the Garden Café

Wake up with Arthur Cole on a stroll through the grounds before the rest of the estate awakes.

The walk culminates in a warming breakfast at the Garden Café.

Garden Day is blooming across the country again. It is time to put down the spade, pick up the flower crown, raise your glass and indulge in the garden.

At the Newt we have a full floriferous day of flower-crown making stations, pop-up fine cyder stalls, BBQs, extra garden tours, and a general air of exuberant celebration of the garden.

This year we have turned the dial up to eleven as we prepare for our second year as RHS Chelsea Flower Show's headline sponsor.

There are few moments that excite the produce gardener more than the first harvest of asparagus in May. Knowing how to succeed with these spears of delight, as well as the other potential bounty provided by your plot, is essential to continued harvests year to year.

Join the Edible Gardens Team as they lead you through your day by delving into the soil, giving guidance on how to work most effectively with it, what to sow where and when, how to water, feed and tackle pests and disease. You will have unrivalled access to the expertise of the team of our Market Garden at Avalon. No matter the size of your plot, be it a window sill, an allotment or a farm, the skills, knowledge and experience garnered on this course are transferable. You will take home a selection of plug plants to add to your garden.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing. Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Awake to the sounds of the estate and allow Arthur Cole to guide you through the gardens. Learn about the garden's presence at RHS Chelsea. The walk culminates in a hearty and healthy breakfast cooked by the chefs in the Garden Cafe.

Wake up with Arthur Cole on a stroll through the gardens before the rest of the estate awakes. Listen to the songs of the birds, take in the scents of the flowers. The walk culminates in breakfast in the Garden Café.

Drystone walls are an important part of the Somerset rural identity and have been so for millenia. Building drystone walls is not only hugely satisfying physically, but it also promotes mindfulness and time for healthy reflection.

The day begins with a brief introduction on the history, theory and design of drystone walls with celebrated drystone waller Tom Trouton. You are led through the basics and topics covered will include how to start a drystone wall, how to repair a damaged wall and how to apply the principles learned to creating other structures (such as firepits and artworks).

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear steel-toe cap boots and sturdy clothes.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Join Lead Fruit Grower, Andy 'Apples' Lewis in the Parabola Walled Garden as he leads you through how to succeed in the art of espalier.

You will be introduced to the techniques, skills and secrets used by the Fruit Team to train fruit trees in all manner of forms. This is a rare opportunity to learn from our resident fruit experts.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Close the day by allowing your mind to quieten to the gentle sounds of the estate in the evening. Join Arthur Cole as he leads you through the gardens and grounds during this magical time of day. The evening culminates with sundowners and charcuterie boards in the Garden Café.

Wake up with Arthur Cole to the early buzz of high summer. The walk culminates in breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

Join our Head Beekeeper & honey sommelier, Paula Carnell, in this immersive workshop. Paula will lead you on a deep dive into the mind of the hive.

Paula prepares you for this rare and extraordinary experience as you suit-up with veils, slow your breathing, lower your heart-rate and step into the world of the honey bee. You will lift the lid and peer into the often hidden workings of the hive, examine the honey production, interpret the health and wellbeing of the colony, allow your body's frequency to interact with that of the bees' in a led meditation before closing the session with a honey tasting.

Includes: Tea/coffee and our signature cinnamon bun with a picnic lunch under the canopy of the lime trees

Our resident flower growers and arrangers lead guests through the cut-flower beds of the Farmyard, teaching how to select flowers, where to cut and how to tidy and prepare before creating floral displays.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch.

Close the day by allowing your mind to quieten to the gentle sounds of the estate in the evening. Join Arthur Cole as he leads you through the gardens and grounds during this magical time of day. The evening culminates with sundowners and charcuterie boards in the Garden Café.

"The trees which are pruned, watered and nurtured by caring hands bear the greatest fruits; it is the same with people." - Bryant H. McGill.

Join Andy ‘Apples’ Lewis, Specialist Fruit Grower, as he leads a day of summer pruning fruit trees in the garden.

The day begins by becoming acquainted with the fruit trees in the garden and your tools. Andy then guides you as you prune different trees to a variety of styles. You cover why to prune, when to prune, where to prune and how to prune different forms (espalier, step-overs, single cordons, double cordons, Belgian fence). Several species of fruit tree are worked on giving you a comprehensive understanding of how to prune fruit regardless of the size of your balcony, garden, allotment or farm.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch.

Wake up with Arthur Cole as he leads you on a stroll back in time to the Roman Villa before the rest of the estate awakes. The walk culminates in breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

Close the day by allowing your mind to quieten to the gentle sounds of the estate in the evening with Arthur Cole as he leads you up to the Roman Villa. The evening culminates with sundowners and charcuterie boards in the Garden Café.

Wake up with Arthur Cole as he leads you on a stroll through the late summer gardens before the rest of the estate awakes. The walk culminates in breakfast in the Garden Café.

The relationship between the garden and the kitchen is akin to a symbiotic one. The gardeners and chefs work closely together to plan the year’s seasonal harvests. This fresh produce deserves the finest send-off, so we send you off to harvest ingredients for your lunch with the gardener, while we set-up the picnic area above the wildflower meadow to have everything you need to cook your picked bounty over fire, creating inventive and delectable dishes with the chef.

The day begins with meeting the gardeners and the chef in the Wildflower Meadow, followed by a short journey to our Market Garden over on Avalon Farm. At the Market Garden we will meet the gardeners who have been cultivating and tending to the plants, picking alongside them to fill our trugs for lunch. Trugs filled to the brim, we head back to the main gardens to cook our harvested produce over open fire, culminating in an indulgent lunch picked and prepared by ourselves.

All equipment and ingredients supplied.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun

Join the Garden Team as they lead you through how to prune trees & shrubs. Pruning trees and shrubs correctly is essential to their healthy growth.

The day begins in the main gardens where you are led through how to prune and shape a selection of ornamental trees and shrubs.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

In celebration of the Autumn Equinox and our Harvest weekend, it's the annual Deep South Somerset BBQ & Boil!

Inspired by the flavours of the Deep South and traditional country broils, think Crab, Corn and Cyder Chowder, butcher Lloyd's hotlink sausages, green tomato pickle and cornbread made with proper West Country cheddar. Accompanied by live music for dancing and hay bales for reclining.

Join us in the gardens for two days of live acts and the finest BBQ fare and seafood this side of the county. No booking necessary, valid Membership or Member's Guest Day Pass required for entry.

Close the day by allowing your mind to quieten to the gentle sounds of the estate. Join Arthur Cole as he leads you through the late summer colours and scents of the garden. The evening culminates with sundowners and charcuterie boards in the Garden Café.

‘Planting and growing increasing numbers of trees is the scientific solution to Earth’s environmental dilemma.’ - Richard St. Barbe Baker.

Planting trees isn’t just essential to the health of the environment, it is remarkably rewarding for the soul. In this Hort Course the garden team lead you through the correct way to plant trees.

The day begins by being led through the fundamentals of planting and staking trees of different species and sizes. The course covers: how to interpret your soil and site, soiul improvers, pest & diseases and when, how and where to prune your newly planted trees.

All materials and equipment are provided.

Please wear sturdy footwear and practical clothing.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Wake up with Arthur Cole as he leads you on a stroll through the orchards before the rest of the estate awakes. The walk culminates in a warming breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

Cyder is the blood that runs through the Newt’s veins, it carries within it the very essence of what the estate is about: Somerset, apples, responsible stewardship of the land, heritage, horticulture, experimentation, creativity and sensory experience.

Join the Cyder Team as they lead a workshop on cyder making. You will learn about the history of cyder making in Somerset, harvest the apples in the orchards, taste the different characteristics of some of our 70 different varieties of cyder apples, press your own juice by hand and start the cyder making process in a demi-john to then take home with you as well as a tasting pack of our own cyders.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Make sure you visit this weekend during apple harvest season, for one of our favourite events in the Estate calendar.

‘Apple Day’, which actually falls on 21 October - was started in 1990 by Common Ground. Apple Day aims to raise “awareness not only of the importance of orchards to our landscape and culture, but also in the provenance and traceability of food” - these are philosophies that we at The Newt also hold dear. Plus, we really like an excuse to celebrate apples.

The weekend shall be a two-day celebration of all things apple; from juice pressing to apple games, displays, recipes, cyder tastings and tractor tours through the orchards. Expect live music and DJs, apple-themed menus as well as our ever popular hog roasting on a spit over fire for the carnivores!

Wake up with Arthur Cole as he leads you on a stroll through the orchards before the rest of the estate awakes. The walk culminates in a warming breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

Fungi is a fascinating kingdom. There are over 15,000 species of fungi in the UK alone. Some are edible, some are inedible and others can be deadly. However, the properties of fungi do not stop at the plate - this extraordinary group holds some of the answers to the beginning and evolution of life on this planet. They have medicinal uses, religious and ritualistic significance, economic weight, and folklore spanning back to times before the written word.

Join our fungi expert on a forage across the Estate, identifying fungi species and foraging different mushrooms. In the second part of the workshop, you learn how to sow your own oyster mushroom spores in straw to continue growing indoors at home and how to set your own shiitake dowels in logs to continue growing outdoors at home.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Join Arthur Cole on an early morning walk through the trees. Learn more about these ancient parts of the estate and the interconnected web of life that maintains this balanced woodland ecosystem.

The walk culminates with a seasonal breakfast in the Garden Café.

Join our Woodland Team for ‘Hort Course: Hedge Laying’. The day begins with an introduction to the craft by a master West Country hedge layer. You will understand the purpose and benefit to laying hedges, the process behind it, the habitat it creates, and how to maintain the hedge in years to come. Immensely satisfying, this is a skill that promotes wildlife conservation and mindfulness at the same time. Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch.

Join Arthur Cole on an early morning walk through the trees. Learn more about these ancient parts of the estate and the interconnected web of life that maintains this balanced woodland ecosystem.

The walk culminates with a seasonal breakfast in the Garden Café.

Wake up with Arthur Cole as he leads you on a stroll through the glistening winter gardens before the gates are opened and rest of the estate awakes. The walk culminates in a warming breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! A time to wrap ourselves up and wrap presents for family and friends. Christmas cards aren’t only a way to reaffirm the bonds with our loved ones; making them from scratch offers you the time to pause during the busy festive season, creating something that will adorn their homes.

The second part of the workshop will teach you elementary calligraphy using botanical inks, to then beautifully write your festive wishes.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.

Christmas decorations bring cheer into the home and often remind us of Christmasses past, as we unwrap those as old familiar favourites from the box. Creating your own decorations is mindful, rewarding and means they are particular and unique to you - which makes them priceless.

Join our Floriculturist and Heritage Gardener, Maiko Ishida, for a workshop that starts with a forage through the woodlands and gardens to gather natural materials, before using them to create a host of decorations.

Includes: Tea & coffee on arrival with the Bakery’s signature cinnamon bun, ending with lunch at the Garden Café.