Manchester City Council

Celebrated for their botanical beauty, the gardens contain an interesting selection of trees and shrubs, including Chusan palms, tulip tree, mulberry, dawn redwood, swamp cypress, Chinese dogwood, Adam's Laburnum, common walnut, Oxydendrum arboreum, a collection of dwarf conifers and many others. The south-facing rockery site is protected by walls and has proved to be a microclimate well suited to growing plants such as Abutilon and other marginally hardy species which may be hard put to resist the winters in less amenable sites.

A puddled-clay pond at the foot of the rockery supports several terrapins and fish, while being edged by an assortment of royal ferns, marsh marigolds, skunk cabbage, Gunnera and some species of Iris. A stream that meanders down the rockery slope feeds it and there is a naturalness that belies the man-made background to the site.

Stenner Lane separates the Parsonage Gardens from the centrepiece of the park. Nestling behind Ye Old Cock pub, they present a number of trees and shrubs that subtend the Old Parsonage itself. The building is not open to the public as it is used as offices by the city's Housing department. However, the area exudes a sense of history which is reinforced by some of Fletcher Moss's original plantings.

A bowling green which fell out of use has been converted into a pergola garden: wooden arches planted with climbers lead from each corner to a centrepiece of species roses and the surrounding lawns are interspersed with groups of bedding plants and heathers. This exemplifies the way in which the garden is continually evolving, so that subsequent visits inevitably yield new riches.