Thornbridge Estate Gardens

About the garden

Owned by

Emma & Jim Harrison

Thornbridge Estate is surrounded by 14 acres of quintessentially English gardens, set in the heart of the Peak District National Park. It was designed at the end of the 19th Century to create a vision of '1,000 shades of green', which the owner wanted to be able to see from his bedroom window. The gardens are a perfect example of Victorian drive, determination and engineering to manipulate the landscape into a series of garden rooms. 

The gardens first opened to the public in the 1930s and there are many distinct areas including the Italian garden, 100ft herbaceous border, water garden and koi lake, as well as terraced lawns overlooking the beautiful Derbyshire countryside. 

Visitors will also come across three temples, numerous statues, 46 urns and two grottos, all of which were incorporated into the garden in the 1890s. Some of the statuary came from Clumber Park and Chatsworth, while some were gifts from the Greek government. The current ownership has seen the development of the Kitchen Garden, Scented Terrace, Long Border, modern knot garden, orangery and greenhouse.