We welcome Adam Willcox our new Head Gardener at Cranborne Estate

We are delighted to introduce Adam Willcox, our new Head Gardener at Cranborne Manor. Adam brings a wealth of experience and a passion for horticulture that perfectly aligns with the ethos of Gascoyne Estates. In a recent interview, Adam shared his journey, inspirations, and vision for his role at Cranborne Manor.

What inspired you to join Gascoyne Estates?

“It was initially the gardens themselves. During my first visit here, I realised how special the grounds of the Manor were and was itching to be part of their care and development.”

Tell us a bit about your background and professional journey that led you to this point?

“I’ll try and keep it short! About 12 years ago, my husband and I decided to ‘escape to the country’ and swapped office jobs in Bournemouth for an acre of land and an old slate cottage in a little village in Mid-Wales. We spent the next few years trying to make a living from the land in any way we could, including rearing pigs for meat, growing vegetables, selling eggs, running an AirBnB, and copywriting for magazines. Over the years, the hog-roasts and catering aspects of the business became dominant, and we ended up taking over an empty shop in the village, which developed into a village store, café, and evening events space.

As the shop became more successful, we sold the smallholding and moved into the shop building, but after a few years, we realised we’d moved away from the things we loved and had gone back to working indoors. So, we sold our home and business, travelled for a while, and then moved back to Bournemouth to start working as gardeners. I started working for a charity, looking after the grounds of their rehabilitation centres and domestic abuse shelters across Dorset. I quickly began managing the wider gardening team and worked with them to improve the quality of the gardens. From this role, I got recruited by a landscaping company that specialised in projects on private estates. I worked on many estates on a wide variety of projects, including garden design, planting plans, landscaping, and general maintenance.

Whilst on a project building a large no-dig vegetable garden for a private estate in Wincanton, I got on well with the owners of the house, and they liked my work, so they asked me to join their gardening team. I worked my way up to head gardener, and after three years in that role, I decided to look for something closer to home (my previous commute was an hour and a half each way!), and I found the role of Head Gardener here at Cranborne Manor.”

What aspect of Gascoyne Estate’s mission resonates with you the most?

“I love working in an organisation that looks to enrich the communities that surround it. All my working life, I have worked in places that have a sense of place in the community they exist in, and with Gascoyne, I’m so happy to continue working in a place that has an outward focus.”

What do you find most exciting about the company culture and working environment?

“In my first few months, I have been blown away by the care and time taken by everyone to ensure that the entire team works together and is moving in the same direction. There is a tendency for gardeners to be forgotten and left to their own devices, which can be isolating – and so the most exciting thing for me is that we’re moving along with the rest of Gascoyne as part of the organisation’s ethos and future.”

In your first few weeks, what has stood out as a memorable experience?

“I knew coming into this role that there was some work to be done in the gardens, and I was so happy and thrilled in my first few weeks to discover that I had the right people around me to hit the ground running. My team are diligent, creative, and perhaps most importantly, incredibly hardworking. We started the season a little behind, and thanks to their efforts, we made up a lot of lost ground very quickly, and I can’t wait to see how much more we can achieve in the future.”

If you could use three words to describe your work style, what would they be?

“Considered, determined, and creative.”

What are some hobbies or interests you have outside of work that you’re passionate about?

“I absolutely love living on the coast – so you’ll normally find me in the sea, either swimming or on the paddleboard.”

How do you see Gascoyne Estates making a positive impact in the community, and how do you want to be a part of that?

“At the local level here in the village, I can see first-hand how the estate has a gentle guiding hand that benefits the community in lots of ways. Having lived in small villages before, I can actively see what the team here brings to the area and the positive impact it has. I see myself becoming a part of that through building connections with the community and helping out where I can. In the short time I have been here, we have supported local community groups by donating planters to ‘Cranborne in Bloom’ and have hosted the village fete in the gardens.”

If you were to describe Gascoyne Estates as a symbol or metaphor, what would it be and why?

“I have to choose something from the garden, don’t I! The metaphor of a tree works well to describe Gascoyne Estates. The roots represent history – they provide the tree with its strength, and everything the tree does and becomes possible because it has a solid foundation. Above ground, the tree represents the estate as it is today and its connection to the community – new branches grow, and when the tree is healthy, it produces fruit that supports the surrounding ecosystem.”