House, Gardens & Cafe Open Tuesday - Sunday 10.30 - 17.00

Harvest Fair

18th September

10:30-5pm

£8 per adult for admission to whole site (fair, house and gardens). Under 16s go free

Celebrate the changing of the seasons and take the opportunity to revamp your garden for the winter, or plan for the spring, with our Harvest Fair. We will have a range of plant stalls selling everything from perennials to shrubs and grasses and more! There will also be food and drink, as well as demonstrations from coppicing to Morris Dancing!

Tickets available on the door.

[Pictures: A pumpkin with hops growing behind in the kitchen garden. Gilbert White’s house products including honey, jam, gin, beer, seed packets and Selborne wine produced by Hambledon Vineyard.]

Here is a taster of the diversity of stalls attending:

Plant Stalls 

  • Hardys Cottage Garden Plants

An RHS Master Grower offering seasonal flowering herbaceous perennials grown in peat free compost

  • Long Acre Plants

Ferns and woodland perennials suitable for a shady situation. Many rare and unusual.

  • Parks Perennials

Growers of hardy herbaceous perennial plants, including Thalictrum, Agapanthus, Eryngium, Anemone and many more.  

  • Hampshire Carnivorous Plants
    Here at Hampshire carnivorous plants, we have been growing carnivorous plants for some thirty-five years.
    With the widest range of quality carnivorous plants available in the UK for the beginner to the keen collector. Sundry items, books and compost also available.
  • Bean Place Nursery

Late flowering perennials, ornamental grasses, and mixed succulents

  • Direct Bulbs

Autumn flower bulbs such as narcissi, tulips, crocus, hyacinths, and alliums.

  • Green Prospects

Southampton based grower who specialises in trees, shrubs, herbaceous, bulbs and orchids.

  • Leesa’s Not just Alpine

Alpines and perennial plants.

  • Meadow Gate Nursery

Ornamental Grasses.

  • Rotherview Nursery

Rotherview Nursery have a wide range of own grown alpines, perennials, and ferns with eco-friendly outlook.

  • Oakview Nursery

Perennials, salvias and grasses.

  • Spring Meadow Nurseries

Spring Meadow Nurseries supply hardy perennials, shrubs, roses and lavender that are all grown in the New Forest.

 

Other Stalls 

  • Fordingbridge Fudge

Traditional, luxury quality and old-fashioned fudge homemade in their own kitchen. They currently have 22 varieties of fudge. Fordingbridge Fudge only uses natural flavourings and are wrapped in eco-friendly packaging.

  • Hambledon Vineyard

A variety of Hambledon Sparkling Wine Tasters.

  • Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust

For over 60 years leading nature conservation charity Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust have protected the wildlife and wild places, with the aim of inspiring people to love nature.

  • Jake’s Artisian Foods

Hand cut, fresh pork pies from Hampshire. Jake’s also make their own pork scratchings and cider vinegar-based whole grain mustard.

Gilbert White’s House Stalls

  • GW’s Gift shop

This stall will include various gift shop items as well as homemade chutneys and jams. (Basically, our museum shop as a stall)

  • GW’S Plant stall

GW’s plant stall includes a wide array of plants from the gardens of our venue, the stall will also have various fresh produce here. (Chris’ UPF plant stall with added fresh produce from the garden)

  • GW Brewery
  • GW Beekeepers

 

 

    Gilbert Whites House

    Gilbert White was aged 7 or 8 when the White family moved from the Vicarage on Selborne’s Plestor, to this house, called ‘The Wakes’ (named after the Wake family who had lived here previously). At that time the property would have been no more than a ‘two up, two down’  but over the subsequent years lots of extensions and additions have been made, creating the long sizeable house you see today.

    The rooms have been restored following descriptions in White’s own correspondence and include a chair he used at Oriel College, Oxford (loaned from the College), items of contemporary furniture, family portraits and bed hangings embroidered for him by his aunts.

    On display is the original manuscript of his book, The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, which was purchased with generous help from English Heritage and others.

    Learn more