Hodsock Priory Snowdrops, Blyth, Nottinghamshire S81 0TY
01909 591204 | www.hodsockpriory.com | @HodsockPriory
PRESS RELEASE FOR DISTRIBUTION OCTOBER 2015
25th year of spectacular Snowdrops at Hodsock
during 250th year of Buchanan’s residency
The dates for north Nottinghamshire’s famous Snowdrop gardens have been announced
for the 25th year in succession. George Buchanan, ninth generation resident and general
manager of Hodsock Priory, will officially open the gates to his family estate from
Saturday 6th February 2016 to Sunday 6th March 2016.
In February 1990, Lady Belinda Buchanan opened her glorious Snowdrop gardens to the
public for the first time. She was astonished by the numbers of visitors who arrived, and
who returned year after year. As numbers grew, so increased visitor’s comforts and facilities
with the family offering refreshments and light meals, plant sales and guided tours of the
formal gardens and woodlands. Today George and the estate team have refined the running
of the popular annual event, with the exception of influencing the weather.
George says: “We’ve come a long way since our first Snowdrop Sunday on a cold, wet
February day in 1990. We honestly didn’t expect anyone to brave the elements. We had a
trestle table, a biscuit tin that doubled as the cash box, a kettle, some polystyrene cups and
tea bags. Oh, and one toilet. By the end of the afternoon we’d had over 700 people through
the gate. Overwhelmed but delighted we realised there was an appetite for coming to see
this wonderful garden. One visitor that day said to me, “Always keep the magic” and that’s
what we’ve been doing ever since.”
Lady Buchanan is famously quoted as saying: “Snowdrops is our ancestry. It all started with
my husband’s grandmother, Lady Beatrix Stanley and her daughter Lady Barbara Buchanan.
They kept the famous gardens at Sutton Bonington and Sibbertoft. A love of horticulture is
therefore inherent and somewhat inevitable”.
George Buchanan is proud of his family roots. He holds the legacy of Hodsock Priory in his
hands and the responsibility of continuing the estate’s traditions and family life. Together
with his wife Katharine, he brings up his two sons and two daughters in the servant’s
quarters of the main house which has enjoyed a resurgence of life as an exclusive luxury
wedding venue.
The family are celebrating their 250th year of residency at Hodsock. The beautiful listed
house was signed over to George’s ancestor, William Mellish, on Lady Day (25th March)
1765, a date significant in the Julian calendar to farming communities.
Snowdrops at Hodsock will open daily between Saturday 6th February and Sunday 6th
March 2016, from 10am to 4pm. Prices are still frozen from 2012 at £5 for adults, £4.50 for
groups of 10+, £1 for children over 6. Infants and wheelchair users go FREE. It’s well worth
becoming a Friend of Hodsock to benefit from discounts on tickets and purchases. Advance
tickets will be available online from November 2015 at www.snowdrops.co.uk.
The marquee tea room, gift and plant sales will be set in the grounds aside the impressive
Tudor Gatehouse with direct access into the Snowdrop woods. The campfire will be lit in the
Glade where you can eat a picnic or grab a hot drink and snack from the woodland cabin. A
free history talk takes place by the campfire at around 2pm each day.
For full details see www.hodsockpriory.com or www.snowdrops.co.uk or call 01909 591204.
Ends
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
Family home: Hodsock Priory is a privately owned country house and 800 acre estate on the
border of Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire. The house is lived in by George and
Katharine Buchanan and their four children. It is run as a wedding venue and is generally
closed to the public. The gates are opened annually for four weeks so the Buchanan family
can share the spectacular snowdrop gardens with the public.
Highly rated: Hodsock is annually recommended by the Times and The Telegraph as one of
the top 10 Snowdrop gardens to visit.
250th anniversary: From 25th March 2015 to 2016 the Buchanan family is celebrating their
quarter millennial anniversary in residence at Hodsock Priory.
Not just Snowdrops: Aside from the breathtaking Snowdrop displays, expect to wander
through banks of Hellebores, carpets of Cyclamen and ribbons of golden Aconites. Blue
irises and orange and red of the Acers mixed with the heady scent of Sarcococca make
Hodsock a garden for the senses.
All press enquiries to:
Helen Leach, Marketing Director
Hodsock Priory
helenleachmarketing@outlook.com
07866 515111