The Weir Garden is a ten-acre informal garden dropping down a steep bank to the River Wye at Swainshill, five miles from Hereford, laid out in the late 18th century on a site used for centuries for fishing, boating and swimming and developed in the 1920s by its owner Roger Parr. The parkland holds the remains of a Roman bathhouse, traces of a Roman road, an Iron Age terrace and an old mill pond, while the walled garden, neglected for 50 years before its restoration, keeps flower borders, seasonal produce and a 1920s Foster and Pearson glasshouse. Children get a natural play area and a short circular parkland walk, and dogs are welcome on leads. Reviewers single out the views along the Wye and the picnic spots by the river and in the walled garden. Tips from visitors: there is no cafe or shop, so bring a drink; the paths are steep with steps and tree roots, and the toilets sit up a narrow climb near the house.
