Wandlebury Ring
The stable block at Wandlebury Ring was built for James II in the late 17th century and later housed the famous Godolphin Arabian.
On our way back from Bennington Lordship (to read about that garden, click here), Michael and I visited Wandlebury Ring, an Iron Age hillfort outside Cambridge in the Gog Magog Hills, Cambridgeshire. The hillfort was constructed by an ancient British tribe in 400 BC and later inhabited by the Romans. In the late 17th century, the inner ramparts and ditch, which circled the fort, were leveled to make way for racing stables for King James II. A mansion and gardens were also constructed, but all that remains now is the stable block and the fort’s deep, encircling outer ditch. The site is now a country park owned by Cambridge Past, Present & Future. For more historical details, click here .
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The very famous yellow snowdrop ‘Wendy’s Gold’ was first observed in the park in 1974 by Bill Clark, the Warden of Wandlebury Ring, but wasn’t introduced until the early 1990s. It is a beautiful, bright yellow in our winter sunshine and vigorous in my garden.
Although the history of Wandlebury Ring is quite interesting, the real reason for our visit was to see the naturalized G. plicatus that thrives inside the Ring. It is from this population that Bill Clark, the Warden of Wandlebury Ring from 1973 to 1998, selected the iconic ‘Wendy’s Gold’, which is named for his wife. The famous ‘Wendy’s Gold’ was later followed by further, well known yellow selections: ‘Bill Clark’ and ‘Wandlebury Ring’.
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‘Bill Clark’ is an even brighter yellow, which colors the scape, spathe, and pedicel. However, it is not as vigorous as ‘Wendy’s Gold’ in my garden.
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The last of the famous trio, ‘Wandlebury Ring’. I don’t grow this snowdrop so the photo was taken in England where lack of winter sun often makes yellow snowdrops have an olive caste.
Wandlebury Ring is a beautiful setting in which to view snowdrops, which occur in sweeps around the mature trees inside the walls:
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Michael stands in a field of Galanthus plicatus with the wall of Wandlebury Ring in the background.
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The setting is very natural with thousands upon thousands of snowdrops in among the grass and winter aconites.
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G. plicatus exhibiting its very distinctive pleated leaves with a whitish center stripe.
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A large beech surrounded by winter aconite and G. plicatus.
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Bill and Wendy Clark still live at Wandlebury Ring. I have corresponded with Bill extensively about the history of the yellow G. plicatus at Wandlebury, which is fascinating. Unfortunately, unforeseen events prevented us from getting together when Michael and I were there. However, Bill still roams the area looking for unusual snowdrops and sent me photos of his recent discoveries:
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A snowdrop with four outer segments instead of the usual three.
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A very elegant snowdrop with twin flowers.
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A new yellow clone.
Thank you, Bill, for the help you have given me in untangling the origins of the Wandlebury snowdrops—you are an inspiration. This post is dedicated to you!
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Carolyn
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CAROLYN'S SHADE GARDENS 
November 19, 2023 at 8:14 am
Lovely photos!
November 19, 2023 at 2:11 pm
Thanks, it was a pleasure to finally see it in person.
November 19, 2023 at 8:28 am
Have forwarded the link to a Galanthophile friend. I have found your web page useful when trying to see what various snowdrops look like. Lovely photos.
November 19, 2023 at 9:04 am
Thanks, Jeanie. I find the history of individual snowdrops as interesting as how they look. But the best part is getting to know famous galanthophiles like Bill Clark.
November 19, 2023 at 12:17 pm
So, were the yellows spontaneous mutations that occurred at this location? And the other interesting variants? If so, is there something about this place that is conducive to mutations? Or do snowdrops just do that?
November 19, 2023 at 2:07 pm
Populations of naturalized snowdrops like those at Wandlebury and also species in the wild do occasionally produce unique plants, generally by crossing with a different snowdrop and seeding. Sharp-eyed galanthophiles have noticed these unique off spring, and collected, named, and introduced them to the trade. Snowdrops in home gardens also do this and the same introduction process has occurred. This is where we have gotten almost all of the named snowdrops available for sale. However, it is possible to breed snowdrops for certain desirable traits and then introduce them to the trade. ‘Golden Fleece’ is a good example of that. Breeding them is a meticulous process and takes a very long time.
‘Wendy’s Gold’ just appeared at Wandlebury among the all white population. Bill Clark put some of the plants in his personal garden (to keep them from getting stolen) and did perform crosses which eventually resulted in seedlings subsequently named ‘Bill Clark’ and ‘Wandlebury Ring’. The last three photos are just the results of Bill’s keen eye for variations in the population of G. plicatus, which most of us would not notice.
November 19, 2023 at 2:55 pm
Carolyn,
Thanks for this informative post. It’s means so much more to know the history of plants in the garden! The ‘Wendy’s Gold’ I received from you are slowly increasing.
I’ve forwarded along your posts to other snowdrop fans as well.
Thanks Again
Jacques
November 20, 2023 at 8:28 am
So glad that you are also interested in the history. It is getting harder to learn about the origins of snowdrop cultivars so I try to get any information I find into print whenever I can to preserve it.
November 19, 2023 at 4:01 pm
Great pics as usual, informative and concise. Thanks!
November 20, 2023 at 8:29 am
Glad you enjoyed it.
November 21, 2023 at 5:34 am
The Years roll by, and Wendy’s Gold gets ever more well known – and more rubs off onto Bill Clark! Many thanks Carolyn – shame we didn’t meet. But glad you are giving Bill Clark such a good home, the poor fellow has given up at Wandlebury Ring!!
November 21, 2023 at 7:51 am
So nice to hear from the legend himself :-). I am so glad the real Bill Clark hasn’t given up on snowdrop exploring. Let us all know how that beautiful twin-headed snowdrop does this February. Best to Wendy!
November 21, 2023 at 8:38 am
Love to follow this! Beautiful photos. Some of my drops from last year have a lot of the greens eaten off. I was very surprised to see this, as I understand that they are practically critter proof! I haven’t actually seen anything chewing on them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed it won’t effect the blooms.
November 21, 2023 at 9:12 am
Do you mean the leaves that were present after the flowers bloomed in late winter? They are important to allow photosynthesis to build up the bulbs and produce the following year’s leaves and flowers. A little chewing would be ok, but you wouldn’t want them to disappear entirely before they have done their job. Nothing has ever touched the foliage on my snowdrops, which is supposed to be poisonous. Slugs do occasionally eat the fall-blooming flowers.
November 21, 2023 at 3:44 pm
The leaves lasted for a good amount of time. Then they started having the nibbles on the top.
November 24, 2023 at 9:15 pm
Look forward to getting more yellow snowdrops! They are gorgeous!
November 25, 2023 at 9:17 am
The yellows are very special and still quite rare.
November 26, 2023 at 4:46 pm
Always enjoy your posts and the history of Wendy, Wandlebury and Bill Clark very interesting. Several of the yellows I got from you continue nicely and now that I expect to be more or less in Fayetteville, PA look eagerly fr their return.
November 26, 2023 at 6:22 pm
Nice to hear from you, Robert. I sure your fellow readers would like to know which yellows do the best for you.