While Kevin is at work, I’m always looking for ways to occupy my day. I tend to try and do things that he wouldn’t normally be interested in. Since he appreciates neither my love of gardening nor The Darkness, I figured a trip to Holker Hall would be a great way to spend a sunny day. Why would his lack of love for the Darkness matter? Because no trip to an English country garden would be complete without me singing one of my favorite Darkness songs, complete with Justin Hawkins falsetto.
I had heard of Holker Hall on my previous trips to Ulverston, but never realized how easy it was to get to without a car. Had I known, I would have taken Mumsy there when she was visiting last year. Holker Hall is located less than a mile from the Cark train station – for someone accustomed to walking upwards of 5 miles to get somewhere, 1 mile is nothing.
Holker Hall is a country estate sitting on land that once belonged to the Cartmel Priory. In 1536, when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the land was put up for sale. (Everything ties back to my favorite monarch!) The land was bought by a local landowning family – The Prestons. In the early 1600’s, they built a manor on the estate. The estate has since passed through inheritence from the Preston family to the Lowther family and finally to the Cavendishes. Suffering a fire in 1871, the manor house was rebuilt, on a slightly more grand scale. The current owners of the estate, Lord and Lady Cavendish, live on the estate full time, and have opened their award winning gardens and a wing of the house to the public. The gardens themselves cover 25 acres of land and are a mixture of formal and informal, being mainly Victorian in nature. They boast a 4 season planting, so that no matter when you visit, the garden is beautiful. Being spring, the bulbs and rhododendrons were blooming, which made for a beautiful visit.
Formal Garden
The Formal Garden located just out back from the main house was a beautiful example of a formal Victorian garden. The shear number of tulip bulbs that had been planted was amazing. And the amount of work put in to perfectly space the bulbs amongst other plants was staggering. I saw three people working in this section of garden alone weeding, thinning and edging. Do you think they need an American Amateur gardener? I’d work for free!
Just out back from the formal garden is the woodland area of gardens with paths winding amongst the trees and rhododendrons. In among all the trees is a world renowned tree referred to as the Holker Lime, dating back to the early 17th century and named as one of Britain’s 50 best trees in honor of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee
As I was admiring the Great Lime in my ridiculous florescent yellow aviators and singing falsetto, I ran across an older man in ridiculous riding crop and 3 other guests who were followed by a pack of what appeared to be Irish Wolfhounds. The man turned out to be the Lord Cavendish, who stopped to say “hello” to me. I gave him a great impression of Americans as being completely ridiculous. Oh well…
Woodland Gardens
Hidden in the woods is a little sunken garden, with about 5,000 more tulip bulbs and a pergola. If I lived there, I think I would spend all my time out there.
Sunken Garden
The Hall itself is neat to see once as it has beautiful architecture and some really interesting pieces of furniture. However, while I would go back in a heartbeat to visit the gardens again, I think I would skip the house the second time around.
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