The English have long been a nation of gardeners. Centuries of working the soil and shaping the landscape can be seen everywhere in historic gardens and grand country estates.
Try these places if you want somewhere to walk with spectacular garden scenery.
1. The College Garden at Westminster Abbey, London
The College Garden at Westminster Abbey in London is thought to have been in use for more than 900 years, making it the oldest garden in England.
The garden was once used by the great medieval monastery established in the 11th century. ‘College’ refers to the word’s old meaning: a community of clergy.
The College Garden is open to visit and managed by Westminster Abbey.
2. The University of Oxford Botanic Garden, Oxfordshire
The University of Oxford Botanic Garden in Oxfordshire is the oldest botanic garden in England.
The garden was founded in 1621 to grow plants for medicinal use. Today, it continues to educate people about the importance of plants and how to conserve them.
The Oxford Botanic Garden is open to visit.
3. Levens Hall, Cumbria
Dating back to the 1690s, the 10 acres of gardens at Levens Hall include the oldest topiary garden in England (and the world), designed by gardener Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont.
The garden contains a unique collection of ancient box and yew trees and an ever-changing array of over 30,000 bedding plants.
Levans Hall is open to visit.
4. Wrest Park, Bedfordshire
Wrest Park is one of the few places in the world where visitors can see the evolution of landscape gardening over the last 300 years. Each generation has left its mark on the estate.
In the early 18th century, Henry, Duke of Kent, laid out one of Wrest Park’s most exceptional features: a massive formal woodland garden enclosed on 3 sides by canals.
Wrest Park is open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
5. Stourhead, Wiltshire
Stourhead in Wiltshire features a world-famous landscape garden with a lake set among lawns and classical temples, with sweeping views and surrounded by trees.
It also contains 2,560 acres of countryside, with walks through chalk downs, ancient woods, Iron Age hillforts and farmland.
Stourhead is open to visit and managed by the National Trust.
6. Belsay Hall and Gardens, Northumberland
The politician Charles Monck designed Belsay Hall after being inspired by Greek and Italian architecture. It was completed in 1817 using stone quarried from the gardens.
Inspired by Monck’s travels, the Quarry Garden has its own microclimate, meaning all sorts of exotic plants grow. There is also one of the biggest collections of rhododendrons in the country.
Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens is open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
7. Audley End House and Gardens, Essex
Stroll around the gardens at Audley End to see the work of the influential landscaper Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, who swept away the original garden to create extensive views, a serpentine lake, and natural planting.
Audley End also features elegant garden buildings, such as the bridge of the River Cam and spacious parklands.
Audley End House and Gardens is open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
8. Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, South Yorkshire
Built by Charles Thellusson, Brodsworth Hall was a family home for over 120 years. The grounds feature a collection of miniature gardens filled with colourful plantings and displays.
You can stroll through the statue walk, the fern dell grotto and the beautiful wild rose dell. There are also formal gardens, pleasure grounds and a Flower Garden with seasonal planting.
Brodsworth Hall and Gardens is open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
9. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London
Kew Gardens dates back to the early 18th century as a royal palace. Today, it’s a globally renowned scientific institution for plant and fungal research.
This historic landscape garden houses botanic collections that have been developed over centuries. It’s been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, are open to visit.
10. Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Garden, Warwickshire
At Kenilworth Castle, you can walk in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth I.
Created for Queen Elizabeth by Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, the Elizabethan Garden was designed to seduce and enchant.
Recreated using an eye-witness description from 1575, you can experience the sights, sounds and scents that would have greeted the Queen when she first walked its paths.
Kenilworth Castle and Elizabethan Gardens are open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
11. Eltham Palace and Gardens, London
At Eltham Palace, you can explore 19 acres of beautiful historic gardens.
Wander around the Rock Garden with its series of pools and cascades. Cross the moat on London’s oldest working bridge and smell the roses in the sunken rose garden.
Once a favoured medieval palace and then a Tudor royal residence, Eltham was transformed into an Art Deco house in the 1930s by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld.
Eltham Palace and Gardens are open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
12. Tresco Abbey Garden, Isles of Scilly
The politician Augustus Smith established Tresco Abbey Garden in the 19th century around the ruins of a Benedictine Abbey.
Today, the garden is a sanctuary for some 2,000 species of plants from across the southern hemisphere and subtropics.
The gardens contain a host of succulents, towering palms, and giant red flame trees that crisscross the gardens.
Tresco Abbey Gardens are open to visit.
13. Walmer Castle and Gardens, Kent
Built on the orders of Henry VIII to defend England’s southern shores, Walmer Castle later became a home for the Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports, among them the Duke of Wellington and the Queen Mother.
There’s plenty to see in the gardens, with flower-filled borders, a kitchen garden, wildflower meadows, shady woodland walks, the glen garden and the striking yew cloud hedge in the Broadwalk.
Walmer Castle and Gardens are open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
14. Witley Court and Gardens, Worcestershire
Witley Court was built in the 17th century and remodelled in Victorian times. In the 1890s, fashionable society flocked to Witley, including the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII.
However, a fire in 1937 left much of this great house in ruins.
In addition to the ruins, you can walk the intricately designed gardens featuring vibrant flower beds, ornate terraces and pavilions which make up the magnificent landscape.
Witley Court and Gardens are open to visit and managed by English Heritage.
15. Royal Horticultural Society Garden, Wisley, Surrey
The Royal Horticultural Society was given Wisley in 1903 by Thomas Hanbury, a wealthy Quaker with a passion for gardening.
The garden quickly acquired a reputation for its collections of lilies, gentians, Japanese irises, primulas and water plants.
At Wisley, the Society had space to allow plant scientists to study flowers, vegetables and fruit, with the goal of sharing with the public which plants were the best to grow.
Today, they strive to educate the public about horticulture and continue experimental research into plants, pests and diseases.
RHS Garden Wisley is open to visit and managed by the Royal Horticultural Society.
16. Holkham Hall and Estate, Norfolk
Holkham Hall is an 18th-century Palladian-style mansion built by Thomas Coke, the first Earl of Leicester, between 1734 and 1764.
Architect Samuel Wyatt originally laid out the walled garden during the late 1700s.
It contains a spectacular stand of Georgian and Victorian greenhouses and vineries, a formal ornamental garden, an established vineyard, and a working kitchen garden.
Holkham Hall and Estate is open to visit.
Further reading
- A Guide to the English Landscape Movement
- 7 of the Best Post-war Parks, Gardens and Landscapes in England
- Celebrating 40 Years of England’s Register of Parks and Gardens
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