New Shire Gardens

About

New Shire Gardens in Manchester is not your typical garden. It resembles an English cottage garden in a way, but it’s probably best just to tell you what you will find.

Our yard includes raised vegetable beds, a pergola covered in grapes and trumpet vines, a little chicken coop with a few chickens, and tucked away in the corner is a gazebo.

There is a large koi pond with a stream running down a hill, surrounded by narrow moss-covered pathways with passageways carved into bushes. A beautiful stone firepit area sits across from a little herb garden with a few beehives.

Probably the most unusual parts of the garden have to be the parts re-created from my favorite authors’ works. If you’ve either read the books or seen the movies of either J.R.R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis, then you’ll recognize elements from some of their stories. Kids are definitely welcome.

Finally, there is a quiet winding path in the woods to help you feel like you’ve left the city, at least for a few minutes. You’ll need some sensible shoes to walk all the paths. With all that being said, we’ll leave a few things for you to discover when you come.

This garden's estimated size is 1 acre.

This Garden Host reports the following Terrain Notes about the garden: Good foot wear is needed for parts of the garden as some parts have uneven paths with exposed tree roots and a small steep bridge over a stream.

2026 Open Day Date: Saturday, July 18

Open Day Hours: 10am–4pm