In 1606, the estate was bought by Rowland Berkeley, a successful wool merchant and banker, and has remained in the family ever since.

The original moated house was set on fire accidentally by Scottish Convenanters on the eve of the Battle of Worcester in 1651. Sir Robert Berkeley lost a lot of money supporting the King and instead of rebuilding the house, he converted the stables into his family’s home. In 1670s, Sir Robert’s grandson developed the landscape at Spetchley with advice from his friend, the diarist John Evelyn. Sir Robert was described by Evelyn as: ‘most ingenious, virtuous and religious…and very curious in gardening.’

The main house was not rebuilt until 1811 to a design by John Tasker. Robert Berkeley redesigned the gardens in the English landscape style with sweeping lawns and views over the lake.

His son, also called Robert married Rose Willmott in 1891. With her sister, the renowned horticulturist Ellen, Rose updated the gardens by enlarging the Walled Garden, landscaping the Fountain Garden and the Rose Lawn. The sisters also built the Melon Houses, Conservatory and introduced several sculptures to the garden.

Ellen Willmott inspired the names of nearly 200 plants and was the first lady to receive the RHS’s Victorian Medal of Honour. However, she never turned up at the Award’s ceremony. In 2019, a chance discovery of letters, documents, photographs and journals in the basement of Spetchley Park, have revealed a possible answer. If you are interested in finding out more about this remarkable woman, read Sandra Lawrence’s fascinating biography, Miss Willmott’s Ghosts.

The composer, Edward Elgar was a frequent visitor to Spetchley and it was here that he was inspired to write his masterpiece The Dream of Gerontius.

In 1924, Spetchley became one of the first gardens to open under the National Garden Scheme.

Recently, John Berkeley and the garden designer Veronica Addams have developed the Millenium Garden in part of the Walled Garden.