Hundreds of visitors got the chance to tour the gardens at Great Chalfield Manor for its annual snowdrops open garden event to raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice.

The beautiful 15th-century Tudor manor house is set in the tranquil Wiltshire countryside near Bradford on Avon.

With seven acres of gardens it’s the perfect place for an early spring stroll among the beautiful snowdrops that carpet the orchards and river banks and are said to herald the arrival of spring.

The grounds opened to the public on Sunday (February 11).

Wiltshire Times: Visitors admire the snowdrops at Great Chalfield Manor open gardens. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-6Visitors admire the snowdrops at Great Chalfield Manor open gardens. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-6 (Image: Trevor Porter)

Patsy Floyd, who lives with her husband Robert at Great Chalfield Manor, said: “It was a lovely day and everybody had a great time. It went very well as far as I know.

“There was a steady flow of visitors from 12.30pm to 4pm and they had hundreds of people so I would imagine that Dorothy House has raised thousands of pounds from the event."

The snowdrop trail around the one-of-a-kind romantic arts and crafts garden is always highly popular but was only open for one day.

Wiltshire Times: Warminster’s Toni Cox photographs snowdrops at Great Chalfield open gardens. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-9Warminster’s Toni Cox photographs snowdrops at Great Chalfield open gardens. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-9 (Image: Trevor Porter)

One of those who visited was Toni Cox, 57, from Warminster, whose mother Audrey Benham, from Bromham, was nursed at Dorothy House Hospice in the final two weeks of her life 12 years ago.

Toni said: “I love to see the first signs of spring and it’s good to be able to do it while raising funds for Dorothy House, who looked after my mother 12 years ago for the last two weeks of her life.”

Wiltshire Times: Great Chalfield Manor house reflects in the lake at open gardens snowdrop event. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-11Great Chalfield Manor house reflects in the lake at open gardens snowdrop event. Image: Trevor Porter 70574-11 (Image: Trevor Porter)

Visitors can also view the topiary houses, orchard, terraces, lily pond, and spring-fed fishpond at the National Trust property.

The manor is also a popular location setting for films and TV series and has featured as Thomas Cromwell’s home Austin Friars in Wolf Hall, and also in The Other Boleyn Girls, and Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Uberville’s, among others.

Sharp-eyed visitors will be able to spot soldiers, griffons and a monkey carved into the rooftops at the house near Bradford on Avon.

The charity event for Dorothy House Hospice is traditionally the first of the year at Great Chalfield Manor, which will officially reopen on Sunday, March 31 when British Summer Time begins.