Radford Park and Arboretum

Radford Park and Arboretum is one of Plymouth’s most quietly remarkable green spaces - a place where Tudor history, local folklore, wildlife and community tree care all meet. 

The park lies within the former grounds of Radford House, once the seat of the Harris family and later associated with the Bulteels. Radford House was an important Elizabethan mansion, described by Plymouth City Council as one of the finest houses in England in its day, and was linked with figures such as Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh. The wider estate included parkland, the lake, lodges, a quay and picturesque features such as the castle.

Radford House itself did not survive. It became increasingly dilapidated and was demolished in the 1930s, but the landscape around it retained its importance, and the landing site (St Keverne’s Quay), the lodge and castle remain. What might otherwise have been lost to development gradually became a public amenity, with Radford Park now owned by Plymouth City Council and enjoyed for its lake, grassland, arboretum, historic remains and views towards Hooe Lake and the Hoe. The mix of freshwater, tidal water, trees, scrub and grassland provides habitat for birds, insects, bats and other wildlife, while the arboretum’s varied tree collection adds further interest, blossom, a food source and shelter.

The Arboretum

The arboretum owes much of its existence to local people. In the 1970s, the Radford Heritage Group, part of the Plymstock & District Civic Society, campaigned to protect the area and secured permission to plant an arboretum from Radford Lodge down towards the lake. In 1975, volunteers planted around 150 trees, with the first being the Giant sequoia, which still stands. The work was not easy: early plantings suffered from wind damage, vandalism and theft, and money was often short. Undeterred, to this day, local volunteers continue to plant, protect and care for the trees with help by from Plymouth Tree People Tree Wardens.

In February 2025, volunteers, local residents and children from Oreston Academy helped plant 12 new trees, marking 50 years since the first arboretum planting. And then later that year, a second project saw another 13 trees planted by Plymouth Tree People. Both projects were funded by the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest.

Radford Park is therefore not just a surviving historic landscape, but a living example of community stewardship.

Information links

For more information on the arboretum.

For more information on Radford Castle or to stay there.

For more history on the area from Plym Valley Heritage.

For a fascinating video of the history of the house and park.

For more history on Radford House from Lost Heritage.

Radford Arboretum's Wildlife

by Jenny Floyd

Radford Park's Arboretum, adjoining Ashery Woods, Radford (brackish) and Hooe (tidal) Lakes, afford many and various wildlife habitats. 

Wild spindle growing alongside Radford Lake is an indicator of ancient woodlands. Toothworts, fascinating, leafless parasitic plants that lack chlorophyll grow by the path edges. 

Wildfowl visit the lakes feeding on vegetation, small fish, insects and other invertebrates in lakes and mudflats. Resident and migrant birds, badgers, deer, foxes and smaller mammals feed on fruits, nuts and invertebrates foraged from hedgerows or among mosses, ferns and lichens growing on mature trees, or dug from the soil. 

Bats and birds swoop to catch insects newly emerged from their larval forms spent in the lakes, streams and muddy ponds. Buzzards are often seen flying overhead. An osprey recently visited. Flashes of kingfishers' azure blue and coppery orange colours are seen by those with a keen eye. 

Collections of oaks, rowans, whitebeams, crab apples, cherries, poplars and many individual memorial trees have been planted by local volunteers since permission was granted in 1974 for an arboretum on the site. By 1975 more than 150 of these special trees had been added to those trees already on site. 

The trees, grasses and other flowering plants, mosses, ferns and fungi growing in Radford Arboretum provide habitats and food sources for an array of wildlife. We gain pleasure and health benefits from the sights and sounds of a wonderful, undeveloped open space that is Radford Arboretum.