We’re so lucky in England to have such varied landscapes, from meadows to forests, and rolling hills to sandy beaches. This varied terrain provides the perfect place for so many different kinds of flowers and foliage to grow and bloom, and there’s nothing more relaxing than sitting by a stunning field of flowers.
With so many of us opting to holiday in the UK this year, there’s no better time to visit these gorgeous flower fields, so we’ve compiled a list of our favourite flowery spots in the UK at which you can take some time out and enjoy the natural world.
Lavender
There are loads of lavender fields in the UK, and it tends to flower from mid-June to early August. You can smell these fragrant flowers from yards away and they’re supposed to aid sleep and relaxation.
1. Mayfield Lavender Farm, London
This stunning lavender farm in London attracts Instagrammers like a magnet would metal. It’s the perfect place to take photos, just make sure you stay on the paths and don’t trample the flowers. Mayfield Lavender Farm also uses its beautiful product to make lovely gifts (for loved ones, or yourself) including pillow spray, essential oil, soap, candles, and even food like tea, biscuits, chocolate, jam and chutneys, which you can purchase online or at the farm itself.
📍 1 Carshalton Rd, Banstead SM7 3JA.
2. Lordington Lavender, Chichester
This lovely, family-run farm produces a range of stunning, lavender-based products, and you can visit the field to see the lavender in bloom yourself. The lavender crop is grown with conservation of habitat and the environment very much in mind − no fertilisers or pesticides are used and it has become a haven for wildlife with at least 12 red listed species of birds including skylarks and barn owls found on the farm.
At a time when bees and butterflies are sadly in decline, the lavender field in summer is alive with humming and fluttering, and of course, the place smells heavenly. Once you’re done exploring, wander over to the shop to browse the products made onsite, and keep tabs on the events that run throughout the year including live music, wellbeing events and private picnics.
📍 Lordington, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 9DX.
3. Yorkshire Lavender, York
Although most of the lavender fields in the UK are located in the South of England, there is a particularly beautiful lavender farm up North, in York. Alongside the spectacular Lavender Gardens, Yorkshire Lavender also boasts a Specialist Plant Nursery, Children’s Play Area, a Gift Shop with their own range of Yorkshire Lavender products and delicious food made in EJ’s Tearoom.
All set in a spectacular hillside farm within the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – the panoramic view is said to be one of the best in Yorkshire!
📍 Terrington, York YO60 6PB.
Poppies
Gorgeous British poppies can be found throughout the UK, and they bloom from mid-June all the way through to September. Occasionally they make it through to October, too, with some lasting until Armistice Day in November!
4. Blackstone Nature Reserve, Worcestershire
This stunning nature reserve in Worcestershire is an absolute oasis for wildlife. You’ll find a huge variety of wildflowers here and it’s a fantastic place to spend the day exploring amidst beautiful surroundings. Between 2011 and 2014 poppies flowered in profusion on the Blackstone Farm Fields nature reserve alongside the road between Bewdley and Stourport.
The sea of red was a by-product of reducing the nutrients, allowing fields to remain fallow and minimising the use of fertilisers that was undertaken as part of the process to return the land to heathland.
📍 Bewdley DY12 1LF.
5. Normanton Down Barrows, Salisbury
Just over half a mile from the amazing and world-famous Stonehenge lies Normanton Down Barrows. Experts estimate that this ancient burial site was constructed around 3650 and 3400 BC, and every year beautiful poppies bloom here. They’re a sight for sore eyes and a fantastic addition to any trip to Stonehenge.
📍 Salisbury SP4 7DE.
6. Hambleton Hough, Selby
Yorkshire is full of natural beauty and the mining town of Selby is one of Yorkshire’s hidden gems. There’s a beautiful 15th-century gatehouse here and, of course, fields of gorgeous wildflowers, including vibrant Flanders poppies. Pair a walk through the poppy fields with a stop off at one of Selby’s lovely coffee shops or tea rooms, and a good mooch around the traditional shops.
📍 Hough Ln, Selby YO8 9LJ.
Purple heather
Anyone who has ever lived in the countryside will know the excitement of seeing the beautiful purple heather bloom, and there are plenty of places to see it from late July until November, wherever you are in the country.
7. Hedleyhope Fell, Durham
County Durham is full of incredible spots to see amazing purple heather. Here, amongst the sheep and farmers you’ll find fields and fields of the stuff, and Hedleyhope Fell has to be the most amazing spot to see this fantastic hardy shrub. One of the largest mid-altitude heathlands remaining in County Durham, Hedleyhope Fell is a mosaic of heather, bilberry, acid grassland, rush pasture, bracken beds, patches of gorse and scattered trees.
Common lizard and slow worm make their home at the Fell as well as twenty butterfly species, including green hairstreak. Hedleyhope Fell is is well served with car parks and footpaths, and the Fell is a common and is grazed by common holder’s livestock year round.
📍 B6301, Bishop Auckland DL13 4PR.
8. Stiperstones Nature Reserve, Shropshire
Shropshire’s idyllic countryside is dotted with amazing patches of flowering heather, but nowhere is it more visible than at Stiperstones Nature Reserve. Head to Nipstone Rock to see the most vivid heather amongst truly picturesque surroundings, and enjoy a wild and atmospheric landscape, with a geology of national significance.
Common lizard and common frog live on the reserve and local birdlife includes red grouse red kite, skylark, raven and stonechat. Invertebrates range from armies of hairy wood ants, to magnificent green hairstreak butterflies and emperor moths, so look our for all of these friendly critters on your adventures!
📍 Birch Tree House, 8 Gravels Terrace, Gravels, Minsterley, Shrewsbury SY5 0JD.
9. Harbottle Crags, Northumberland
Northumberland is absolutely covered in heather. If you take the A1 North from anywhere above Leeds and drive up to Scotland you are guaranteed to see heather this time of year. The road runs between the North York Moors and The Yorkshire Dales, then up past the North Pennines to the stunning Northumberland National Park, and these are all places where heather grows.
If you’re up in Northumberland, make the trip to Kielder Forest Park and wait until the evening. There you will see some of the clearest stars in the UK and tons of amazing wildflowers everywhere.
📍 Kielder, Hexham NE48 1ER.