Northumberland Holiday Guide 2009
Grand Cascade, The Alnwick Garden
gardens) is the Grand Cascade encircled by a Rose Garden, England with numerous statesmen including Earl Grey, the
Ornamental Garden, Water Sculpture Garden, Serpent Garden, reforming 19
th
century Prime Minister, after whom the tea is
Bamboo Maze, Woodland Walks and even a Poison Garden named. The tea room here is the perfect place to enjoy a cup
growing a variety of toxic plants that never fail to fascinate. of the famous bergamot blend after a walk through the dazzling
Europe’s largest tree house constructed in a stand of giant lime displays of spring bulbs, early summer rhododendrons and
trees, is by the main entrance, with a cafe and other rooms
extensive herbaceous borders.
linked by an aerial walkway. New for 2009 is the Cherry Orchard;
350 Japanese Tai Haku Cherry trees should produce a riotous
Howick Hall Gardens are principally the work of the 5
th
Earl
display of blossom in spring.
Grey, his wife Lady Mabel and his daughter Lady Mary Howick
who were all disciples of Robinson. Their natural planting style
Hulne Park and the Alnwick Garden are open daily, all year
can be seen throughout the gardens. New additions include the
round, and are a must-see for anyone interested in the past,
Bog Garden and Arboretum.
present and future of the English garden.
After over a century of loving care, it is small wonder that
If Capability Brown’s ‘natural’ parklands represent one extreme
Howick Hall Gardens have been rated as one of the top five
of garden design, and the contemporary designs of the
coastal gardens in the country by BBC Gardener’s World
Duchess of Northumberland’s astonishing Alnwick Garden
magazine. They are open from early spring until mid November.
the other, what lies in between? The answers can be found at
Forty miles inland from Howick, Lord William Armstrong blended
three essential Northumberland gardens located at Belsay Hall,
the early Victorian love of exotic plants and late Victorian natural
Howick Hall and Cragside House.
planting style to create a breathtaking garden for his country
Belsay Hall near Ponteland is a neo-classical mansion built in
home, Cragside. He also moved a mountain - literally.
1817 with stone from the estate’s own quarry. This was a time
Armstrong was a fabulously wealthy industrialist and he
when botanists began to explore Britain’s far flung empire and
gardened on an industrial scale. During the 1870s, he
Belsay’s owner, Sir Charles Monck, was an avid plantsman.
employed hundreds of labourers to move thousands of tons of
Happily for him, and us, the steep sides of his redundant quarry
rock to reshape the valley of the Debdon Burn into the world’s
created a micro-climate ideal for growing exotic plants. Monck
largest rockery. He then planted over a thousand acres of his
turned Belsay’s quarry into a unique garden inspired by the
new hillside with rhododendrons which are a riot of colour in
ravines of Sicily and today these Grade 1 listed gardens are
late May and June.
sure to delight the true plant enthusiast. Belsay is in the care of
English Heritage and open daily all year round.
Cragside House & Gardens are now in the care of the National
Trust and open to the public for most of the year.
Besides the Quarry Garden, Belsay boasts sweeping formal
gardens which were a feature of Regency and early Victorian
Inevitably there was a reaction to Armstrong’s industrial
horticulture and a reaction to the flowerless parklands of
gardening and around the turn of the century the Arts & Crafts
Capability Brown. In the late 19
th
Century the pendulum swung
movement, which sought a return to simpler craftsmanship,
back towards Mother Nature. The High Victorian horticulturalist began to gain ground across the artistic disciplines. One of the
William Robinson advocated more natural planting styles than champions of Arts & Crafts was publisher Edward Hudson,
those found at Belsay and his garden philosophy influenced founder of Country Life magazine and creater of a unique bolt
a true ‘gardener’s garden’ at Howick Hall, on the North hole in Northumberland.
Northumberland Coast.
In 1901 Hudson bought the derelict Lindisfarne Castle and
Howick is the seat of the Grey family who have provided engaged two of his protégés to transform this ruined Tudor
24 www.visitnorthumberland.com
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