Parks and Gardens of the Pays d’Artois

Follow the delicate scents, admire the views and the creative planting of passionate gardeners. Whether English-inspired, French-style or with a very personal touch, each patch of greenery will take you on a journey, through a meticulously staged and sublime experience. Revel in the light and shade and lose yourself along the flower-lined pathways. Let the magic happen, and experience life in technicolour!

Entering Séricourt is like entering the setting of an open-air theatre. One scene follows another, over an area of 4 hectares. The plantings and plant sculptures tell the story of how men’s motivations lead to greed, lust and war. The Jardin des Guerriers (Warrior’s Garden) is suggestive of Agincourt, Crécy and the two world wars. Le Repos du Guerrier (Warrior’s Rest) is represented by a Matisse-inspired odalisk. For some, La Procession evokes nuns, for others knights in armour. The journey is one towards peace and the future. There are contrasting ambiences, with large geometric paths and shady woods, a topiary garden, a maze of grasses and a Keiji rose garden.

The Virginia Tulip tree, Chinese handkerchief tree, Himalayan birch, Crepe myrtle, Asian conifers, Tibetan cherry and Alaska Sitka spruce (only 4 in Europe) can all be seen here. Over an area of 5,000 m2 the owners have assembled more than 2,000 plant species: maples, conifers, magnolias, rhododendrons, hydrangeas, rose bushes, grasses and perennials. The lake, with its many varieties of water lilies, inspires contemplation. On the arrival of the large semi-double poppies, and the Reflets de Jardin rose, the garden takes on the appearance of a country rose garden.

At Bergueneuse, the garden is also an open-air art gallery. The owner is an artist. His animal and semi-figurative sculptures blend into the “country cottage” atmosphere created by the 18th century cottage. You will come across the art works in steel throughout your visit, surrounded by perennials, rare shrubs and rose bushes. The lake is home to different species of water lilies, which won’t fail to intrigue and amaze visitors.

The vast country-style courtyard welcomes you and quietly leads you to the rear of the château, where your route is marked out by lavender and box. It’s then that a large arboretum comes into view, heralded by a splendid Caucasian wingnut tree… The tour continues through tall trees, witnesses to the long history of the family and the estate. Then, an adventure: you are challenged by a charming 3000m² maze. To calm you down, the verdant spaces, with their scents of old roses and a collection of over 90 varieties of hydrangea, will help you relax.

The garden’s colours and ambiences can be enjoyed all year round. From May onwards, you can admire the tender foliage of the maples and the first roses which bloom in June. As an exception, the owner, Mme Thellier, is opening the gardens to visitors every afternoon this month. Then it’s the turn of the wisteria, clematis, elder, grasses and many varieties of perennials.

Finally, come the autumn colours, with the brightly coloured foliage of numerous tree species. You will be surprised, at the bend of a path, by a magnificent chestnut tree, more than 160 years old, with its branches extended, as if trying to embrace you…a remnant of the original meadow on which the garden was sited.

Created in 1998 by Nicolas Watine, a contemporary artist, painter and owner of the property, these topiary gardens provide a harmonious backdrop to the manor house which dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries. Here yew and box trees create a visual symphony along with espalier pear and apple trees on an immaculately kept lawn.
A beautiful collection of 400 old garden tools and the permanent exhibition of Nicolas Watine’s artwork offer a delightful extension to your visit.

Over an area of 2.5 hectares, Botanica offers an incredible range of rare trees, shrubs and perennials all year round. The owner, who is passionate about botany and landscaping, has created a dream garden, where thousands of varieties (Iris, Peony, Ornamental Apple, Dogwood, Hyacinth, Magnolia, Viburnum…) grow side by side, including some very rare specimens from all over the world: a dozen Japanese maples, palmatum and dissectum, weeping maples and a superb ulmus parviflora geisha, a very rare tree pruned into cloud shapes, giving it the appearance of a bonsai. Every season brings its share of new plants, which are constantly being renewed.

Created in the 1950s by a pharmacist and passionate botanist (Jean-Michel Spas), Floralpina is home to thousands of plant varieties collected from all over the world via trips and exchanges with other collectors. On a “concentrated” plot of not more than half a hectare, some very different environments have been recreated. Side-by-side are presented large collections of alpine plants and peonies, rock gardens worthy of arid mountains, a Mediterranean garden, aquatic plants… but also a dozen remarkable trees from 5 continents, including the oldest tree in the town of Arras, older than the citadel.

Weeping ash, Virginia tulip trees, larch, lime trees, pines and Lawson cypress make up the real soul of the place. The grounds open onto the château and vice versa, inviting visitors to take a stroll. Here you find a small arboretum, a reflecting pool, an orchard and an arrangement of hedges and shrubs that now encircle the property.
Didier Cramoisan and Bernard Dragesco unveil these treasures in the summertime and invite you to take the time to stroll around the château. Why not plan a guided tour?

In 1815, the Cardinal de la Tour d’Auvergne had his summer residence built on the ruins of the former Benedictine Abbey, founded in the 10th century and destroyed after the French Revolution. The Château d’Étrun and the gatekeeper’s house, now a gîte, look out over two hectares of French-style parkland, beautifully planted with trees and carefully tended by the owners, Florence and Hervé Hanard. A 600-year-old lime tree still stands there, in a magnificently verdant setting. As you wander around, you will come across the remains of the former abbey, the abbesses’ meditation terraces and the gardener’s turret.

A long driveway lined with Chinese lacquer trees leads up to the château gates. More than 200 shrubs and a thousand rose bushes, perennials, grasses and other annual flowers are a delight for botanists. Explore the white stone chapel, hidden between the centuries-old hornbeams and ash trees. As you stroll through the grounds, amuse yourself by spotting reflecting pools, gazebos, pergolas and Falconet’s Bather emerging from the flower beds. You are in a place untouched by time, in the estate of Chantal and Paul Topart de Moriamé. Linger also in the orchard where you’ll be carried away by all the different species.

You will be inspired as you observe the effects of time and man on this vast 33-hectare site: stables, an ice house, a column, a V2 launch platform, as well as century-old trees, a replanted orchard, the creation of an arboretum, re-filling of ponds and restoration of the monks’ lodges… Discover also the medicinal garden, currently being created, with 104 species soon to be planted. A few more years are still required for the grounds of the Château de Cercamp to be restored to their 19th-century appearance. Follow the metamorphosis being carried out by Serge Dufour, the owner of the site.