Downsizers can grieve more for their gardens than their homes when they move so why not choose a retirement village with glorious grounds
Springtime at Amesbury Abbey retirement village is heralded by carpets of daffodils and bluebells which flank the long drive up to the ancient building and surrounding cottages.
The river Avon which cuts through the gently undulating 35-acre landscape is a favourite picnic spot in summer for the retired residents who can enjoy a spot of fishing and family fun with the grandchildren in this idyllic spot near Stonehenge in Wiltshire.
The animated twitter of the birdlife is matched only by the excited chatter of the property owners who love to stroll the grounds where England’s first Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine is said to be buried, and meander down to the fresh water spring that never freezes where early hunter gatherers settled to build Stonehenge.
“We do live a sybaritic life,” admits Marigold Routh, 86, who has lived at the abbey for five years. She owns a one-bed ground floor apartment with a patio.
Like many retirees it was a wrench for her to give up her family home – but a bigger one giving up her garden.
“We had a two-acre garden with a wildflower meadow and walled garden,” she muses. “I have to say I miss the garden more than the house but look at this.” She gestures toward the patio she has filled with raised beds and plant pots and the grassy area beyond.
“I grow clematis, dwarf roses, daffodils and geraniums and don’t have to bend down too far to look after them. There’s even a heated greenhouse where I can keep my geraniums in winter.”
Marigold, who has a natural sciences degree from Oxford University worked in plant physiology for ICI in the 1960s at the cutting edge of weed-killer-and-insecticide development, and loves being surrounded by plant life.
“We have beech trees here which were planted by the Duke of Queensbury in the mid 18th century,” she explains. “Limes and cedars of Lebanon which were planted in the 19th century and a giant Sequoia redwood from America.
“I love popping down to the river to see the wildflowers and pottering in the greenhouse.”
The Abbey was converted into a retirement village by the late Mary Cornelius-Reid, an earlier pioneer of retirement communities back in the 1950s, who added mews cottages and apartments, and a building that has the oldest continuous thatch in England.
“All the residents love the gardens, they are so important to their wellbeing,” says Mary’s daughter Naomi Cornelius-Reid who now runs the family business with her two siblings.
“There is so much space for our residents to enjoy; there’s the river, woodland, and acres of grounds. We put on lots of events in the summer; picnics, barbecues by the river, fetes, fairs and a Proms in the Park.
“Many owners have had gardens which they miss more than their houses but here have all the benefits of a big garden without having to look after it. People can also have their own little gardens if they want.”
The village has a restaurant and nursing home on site. Amesbury Abbey offers one bedroom apartments from £160,000.
[mappress mapid=”196″]
