Westonbirt, the National Arboretum
Permalink / ShortlinkLast updated: 31 October 2011
Address Background Personnel Policies Environment Weather Collection Facilities Access Principles Location map
| Address and contact details | |
| Name of Garden: | Westonbirt, the National Arboretum |
| Forestry Commission, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QS | |
| Tel: 01666 880220 | |
| Fax: 01666 880559 | |
| Email: westonbirt@forestry.gsi.gov.uk | |
| Web site: www.forestry.gsi.gov.uk/westonbirt | |
| Latitude: 51° 36' 25" N / 51.6050148 | |
| Longitude: 02° 13' 12" W / -2.2090628 | |
| (mapquest.com provides an excellent way of checking how accurate your co-ordinates are) | |
| Background to the collection | |
| Year founded: | 1829 |
| Ownership: | Forestry Commission |
| Garden code: | WESB |
| Umbrella organisation: | PlantNetwork, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Forestry Commission, National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens |
| i.e. PlantNet, BGCI, NCCPG; ICCP etc. | |
| Personnel | |
| Please include actual titles in brackets after the name i.e. Owner, Director/Manager, Curator/Head gardener. If you have other administrative staff, i.e. taxonomists, education officers etc. please add extra rows. | |
| Director: | Simon Toomer |
| Curator: | Mark Ballard |
| Contact person: | Mark Ballard |
| Total Staff: | 30 |
| Total Horticultural Staff: | 10 |
| Policies | |
| Accessions: | Yes |
| Collections: | Yes |
| Physical environment | |
| Altitude: | 120 m |
| Soil type: | Loam, alkaline and acid |
| Aspect: | Mostly flat |
| Total area: | 240 ha |
| Area heated: | |
| Other sites of collection: | [link id='3523'] |
| Weather records | Records kept |
| Temperature | |
| Average daily: | 9.3 °C |
| Av. monthly max: | 21.7 °C |
| Av. monthly min: | 0.5 °C |
| Absolute maximum: | 34.0 °C (1990) |
| Absolute minimum: | -12.5 °C (1987) |
| Wind | |
| Direction: | South and west |
| Strength: | Average |
| Rainfall | |
| Average annual: | 840 mm |
| Month of maximum: | December |
| Month of minimum: | April |
| Plant collection | |
| Families: | 105 |
| Genera: | 311 |
| Species: | 1882 |
| Taxa: | 2817 |
| Number of accessions: | |
| Plants: | 16,000 |
| Notable plants within the collection: | |
| Geographical area(s) of specialisation: | |
| Special families within the collections: | |
| Pinaceae, Aceraceae, Betulaceae, Cornaceae, Fagaceae, Aquifoliaceae, Magnoliaceae, Tiliaceae | |
| Special genera within the collections: | |
| Abies, Acer, Betula, Cornus, Fagus, Fraxinus, Ilex, Magnolia, Picea | |
| Special collections: | |
| Acer (Japanese cultivars) NCCPG Acer spp. NCCPG Staphylea spp. NCCPG Tilia (hardy spp.) NCCPG Juglandaceae NCCPG | |
| Record Keeping: | Kept since 1988 Computerised |
| Record System: | Access Mapping: Arcview GIS |
| Are phenological records kept? | |
| Plant-collecting trips: | Yes |
| Facilities on site | |
| Herbarium: | No |
| Library: | Yes, but no public access |
| Research facilities: | No |
| Publications: | Garden guide, guide map, Access to plant list and map via website |
| Do you identify plant material for the General Public? Internal Identification only? | |
| Teaching and Education: | Primary, secondary, higher. |
| Interpretation: | Supervised garden walks, signs, brochures, guided trails |
| Friends Organisation: | Yes |
| Visitor facilities: | Café, plant shop, shop, restaurant, information point |
| Access to the collections - Who can visit, when etc. | |
| Access conditions: | Some dog restricted areas. |
| Public access: | Admission charge |
| Visitors per year: | 350,000 |
| Public opening hours: | Mon-Sun: 9am-dusk |
| Guiding principles behind the collection | |
| Mission statement: 'To connect people with trees to improve the quality of life' | |
| Location map | |
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