A Day in Mells, Mells Manor and Mells Park

Friday 29 May 2026, 11.00am to 16.30pm

Mells, Frome, Somerset BA11 3PW

Meet at Mells Manor’s south gates, Selwood Street

Thank you for the bookings.  All places for this event have now been filled.  If you would like to be on a waiting list, please write to general@Lutyenstrust.org.uk and we will add your name and details to advise should this option arise. 

                                                                          SOLD OUT

Explore Lutyens’s stunning contributions to this beautiful Somerset village, his memorials, shelter, Mells Manor and Mells Park House, and the Lutyens and Jekyll garden.  Enjoy a fine summer lunch with wine and addresses from Lord Oxford and Charles Hind.

 
Images: Edward Horner Memorial, St Andrews Church, Mells   © Rebecca Lilley, Gavin Chappell

The Trust joins with the Worshipful Company of Gardeners Livery Company, courtesy of the owners of Mells Manor and Mells Park, for an informative and enjoyable day in the beautiful Somerset village which these magnificent properties elegantly help define.  Here too we will see Lutyens’s work at the church and his public shelter and war memorial which further distinguish the hamlet.   The late spring weather should ensure we see all in the best light.

We will meet at gates to south of Mells Manor at 11.00am  (gatepiers by Lutyens), where provided with notes for a self-guided walk of Mells village  including Mells Public Shelter, Wood End (Lutyens) and Mells War Memorial  (Lutyens), before gathering  at St Andrews Church.

The churchyard here boasts Lutyens’s Mechanical gate, Headstones to Sir John and Lady Horner and the Memorial tomb of Reginald McKenna, while the medieval Church hosts the Memorial to Edward Horner (Lutyens/ Munning), the Memorial to Raymond Asquith (Lutyens/ Gill) and the Memorial to Mark Horner (Lutyens/ Gill).

Image:  Mells War Memorial   ©  Tim Skelton

We will progress to Mells Manor House to join the WCG Livery members and the Samuels on the terrace for drinks at 12.15 pm.  Raymond Asquith, Lord Oxford, and our Chairman,  Charles Hind, will introduce the house before lunch from one o’clock.   We hope too to view Lutyens’s plans for restoration and alterations for the Horners of this largely Elizabethan manor, Lutyens’s restoration and alterations and his Morning Garden Rooms and the Garden Shelter.

Image: Mells Park House    © Richard Breese

Around 2.45pm we will move on to Mells Park and House.   Here, Lutyens rebuilt the earlier house around 1922-25 after a fire, for the McKennas.  The Head Gardener will be there to provide introduction to the gardens designed by Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll .   The Lutyens Trust guests will peel away to see inside Mells Park House, courtesy of Michael and Julia Samuel, to peruse  not least the interior decoration by Herbert Jekyll.  We can also debate whether the stables were by Soane or John Wood the Younger!

Tickets are £90 for members (including VAT) and £125 for non-members.

The day will involve walking – strolling at a gentle pace. Mells Park House is about a 20 minute walk from Mells Manor House.  There are no notable inclines but there will be stairs inside.

GETTING THERE:
The nearest railway station is at Frome.  Buses to Mells from Butler’s Garden, very close to the station,  take between 35 and 60 minutes.  Taxis from the station take around 15 minutes.  Parking will kindly be made available by the owners of Mells Manor House (postcode BA11 3PW) from early morning in the field up the driveway next to the Manor.

DIETARY REQUIREMENTS

Please advise the Director here if you or your guest have any special dietary requirements.

Events Terms and Conditions
Events Disclaimer

Neither The Lutyens Trust nor the Leader or Organizer of any event or walk advertised in this Newsletter or any other programme organized by The Lutyens Trust shall be held liable for the death of or injury or damage to the person or property (including theft or loss) of any member of the Trust or any guest or any person occurring during or arising from participation in any of the events advertised in this Newsletter or programme. Members are reminded that they should have adequate personal and travel insurance cover.

Refund Policy
Refunds for cancellations requested after the 14-day cooling-off period are subject to a £25 administration charge.

Refunds will only be issued for cancellations made no later than 14 days prior to the event start date. It may be possible to make a member substitution if you contact us at least a week in advance of the event.

Transfers to another event cannot generally be made. Any such transfers that are agreed by the Lutyens Trust will be subject to a £25 administration charge.

If the Lutyens Trust cancels the events, we will refund the event fee in full.

If the Lutyens Trust postpones, reschedules or relocates that event, or makes any other material alterations which mean you are no longer able to attend, we will refund the event fee in full.