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Garden Owners,
Please copy this information and paste it into an email to:   wb [at] armchair-travel [dot] com

Please make any changes in BRIGHT RED in your email back to us.

Regards,
Armchair Travel Co Ltd
http://www.armchair-travel.com
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Garden Name: Brockhole
Last Modified: 18/02/2010
Garden ID: 0475

pic: 0475_Brockhole.jpg

Owner: The Lake District National Park Authority
Address:
Lake District Visitor Centre
Windermere

Postcode: LA23 1LJ
County: Cumbria

tel: 015394-46601
fax: 015394-45555
website: www.lake-district.gov.uk
email: susanfryer {at} lakedistrict.gov.uk

Features: 
There are plans for a Heritage Lottery Fund restoration over the next few years and a new visitor centre to be built in the car park area. Visitors are advised to ring or check our own website www.lakedistrict.gov.uk for updates on the project.
The garden is featured in Gardens of the Lake District by Tim Longville. Frances Lincoln 2007.

English Heritage Grade:
II

Opening Times:
Gardens and Grounds open all year.
Visitor centre, Cafˇ and shop open all year round 10am -5pm'
'Gardens open all year round dawn to dusk

Best Times of Year to Visit: 
May/June
July/Aug

To see: 
Wildflower meadows and rhododendrons.
Kitchen Garden/Cut flower borders

National Collection: 


National Garden Scheme days: No
Comments: 

Parties / Coaches: Yes 
Comments: 

Viewing by Appointment: Yes
Comments:  

House Open for Viewing: No
Comments: 

Admission Prices:
Guided Garden Walks: £2pp, min. £25 per group.
Lively, informative tour of the house & grounds £2pp
Admission Free.
On-site pay & display car parking; TBA

Parking: Yes
Lavatories: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Shop: Yes
Plants for Sale: Yes
Lunches: Yes
Teas: Yes
Refreshments: Yes
Picnics: Yes
Dogs allowed: Yes
Only on Lead: Yes
Events: Yes

Other Facilities:
Adventure Playground, access to lakeshore and boat trips on Lake Windemere.
Check own website -
Organized events during school holidays
Head Gardener walk once a month - please ring for details on events and walks


Designer: Thomas Mawson
Description of Garden:
The sheltered nature of the garden at Brockhole, the acidic soil and the mild, moist climate of South lakeland means that a number of slightly tender plants have found a place here. But many of Mawson's original plantings still remain and include some fine specimen trees, both conifers and broadleaves, formal clipped yew and box hedging, rhododendrons, wisteria and magnolias. To these have been added a wealth of herbaceous plantings, scented plants, old-fashioned roses, and various other ornamental trees and shrubs, designed to provide something of interest at all times of the year. 

A recent addition is an autumn border, planted during the winter of 1997. The original conservatory adjoins the house, and the Gaddum family's apple trees can still be seen on two of the smaller terraces. The kitchen garden has been rebuilt in a rather less formal style with herbs, vegetables, soft fruit and cut flower beds. 

The grounds at Brockhole cover 30 acres with 10 acres of formal gardens all looked after, remarkably, by a dedicated team of two full-time gardeners. There is also a large-scale Adventure Playground set amid woodland and wildflower meadow - where over 100 species of wildflowers are at their best during May, June and July. During the winter the meadow is home to a flock of sheep and the peaceful atmosphere of the gardens and grounds reflects how it must have felt to the family who first lived here. Nowadays Brockhole is home to hundreds of wild birds, and animals such as foxes, deer, squirrels and badgers which are more easily seen in early morning or late afternoon.


History: 
The gardens at Brockhole were laid out over 100 years ago by Thomas Mawson for the Gaddum family, who made their home here in 1899. They built a series of South and West facing terraces which slope gently down to the shores of Lake Windemere, and which move from formal to informal planting, through flower beds, meadow and woodland to the lake shore. During the past 15 years the gardens have been carefully restored with many of Mawson's original ideas and garden furnishings being re-introduced. The plantings, whilst still in keeping with Mawson's ideals, have continued to evolve and Brockhole is now home to numerous interesting and unusual plants from all over the world.

Suggested reading for visitors interested in Thomas Mawson are:-
The life of Thomas Hayton Mawson Landscape Architect 1861-1933 By Elizabeth Kissack 2006. Published by Elizabeth Kissack.
Thomas Mawson Life, gardens and landscapes by Janet Waymark. Frances Lincoln 2009.

Local Inns: 
The Sun Inn, Troutbeck Bridge

Accomodation: 
The Langdale Chase Hotel, Ambleside

Restaurants: 


Village/Town/Sightseeing: 
Lakes