VISITORS enjoyed the last viewing opportunity this year to see of one of Europe's largest walled gardens at the weekend.

The Georgian walled garden at Croome Court has been completely transformed in the 16 years since Chris and Karen Cronin first viewed the Gardner's Cottage and garden that was in a complete mess, derelict and uninhabitable.

The seven-acre rhomboid-shaped walled garden holds a unique place in the history of British gardening, as it is thought to be the largest 18th century walled garden in Britain and possibly Europe.

Mr Cronin said: "Sometimes in life there are opportunities that present themselves.

"When we saw it was on sale, we went to view it and knew straightaway we wanted it."

Years of painstaking work has gone into restoring the garden, including the Melon House and Fig House that were completely dismantled and restored from the ground up.

The garden, described as a "secret garden" by Mr Cronin, opened for the first time to the public in August 2014.

"This year we decided to open every weekend, and it has worked superbly," Mr Cronin said.

"We have had over 6,000 visitors in.

"What is happening is everybody who comes in loves it, so naturally a lot of our visitors are repeat visitors, and many new ones are coming on their recommendations."

The garden closed at the weekend for the last time this year, to allow for the next stage in the restoration and improvement programme.

This includes a new state-of-the-art irrigration system being laid in the coming weeks, and preparing the new visitors centre which will open for the first time when the gardens reopen during Easter 2017.

Mr Cronin, who said he and wife Karen see themselves more as custodians than owners, says long term he hopes the garden can become completely self-sufficient, to ensure it does not return to a poor state, and there are even plans to use the visitor centre as a classroom for an education programme.

For more on the garden, and the restoration project, visit croomewalledgardens.com.