Cottesbrooke Hall and Gardens

About the garden

The remarkable 18th-century landscaping of the park, with its vistas and lakes, provides a stunning backdrop to the hall. The gardens span almost 13 acres and have been developed by a number of distinguished designers: Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe and Dame Sylvia Crowe in the 20th century, and more recently, James Alexander Sinclair and Arne Maynard.

In the tranquil Wild Garden, designed around a stream, visitors can enjoy an array of spring flowers, specimen acers and gunneras. The more formal gardens surrounding the hall are laid out as a series of individually planted ‘rooms’. There are pergolas, statues, rose borders, double herbaceous borders, pools and, on the south front, the formal parterre.

In May, a profusion of white bracts on Cornus kousa provide a dramatic display, while wisterias drape the garden walls burst into flower above abundant borders. In June, visitors can admire the profusion of roses trained in spirals and organic shapes on walls and in borders, while late summer sees dahlias, salvias and agapanthus providing interest until the gardens close at the end of September.