Bents Garden& Home

Bents Garden & Home occupies sixty acres on Warrington Road in Glazebury, grown from a half-acre plot Alfred and Margaret Bent first rented to sell home-grown roses. Their son Ron and his wife Wendy expanded the site through the following decades, and grandson Matthew Bent now serves as managing director alongside his sisters Rachel, Helen and Katherine. The centre opened one of the country's first garden-centre cafés in 1982, followed by a 450-seat restaurant and an Italian-style café in 2001. Glasshouses, including the 2007 Open Skies building with its retractable roof, sit alongside planting displays, a food hall and homeware departments across the grounds. Visitors can walk the site before or after eating, with cut flowers and seasonal produce grown on the land itself. Ownership has stayed with the Bent family across three generations rather than passing to outside investors.