Elizabethan Gardens

A mid-twentieth century re-creation of an Elizabethan garden in the Renaissance Style. The Gardens were designed to evoke the Elizabethan heritage of Roanoke Island and North Carolina - a memorial to Sir Walter Raleigh's lost colony of 1587 was on this site.The Elizabethan gardens were promoted by the Garden Club of North Carolina in the 1950s. The dedication plaque explains that 'Down the centuries English women have built gardens to the glory of God, the beauty of countryside and the comfort of their souls'. The main garden features are a 16th-century orangery, a courtyard with an Italian fountain and parterres, a terrace, a mount, a Shakespearean Herb Garden, the Queen's Rose Garden, a Wildlife Garden and a Sunken Garden. Later, the garden received a gift of Italian statues, balustrades and fountains. They are authentic Renaissance artefacts but their character is not English.