Category Archives: Uncategorized

Cragside

Posted on 28/03/2026 by The Garden History Blog

I’ve just been to Cragside in Northumberland and my first reaction was that its creators, William and Margaret Armstrong,  must have had very powerful leg muscles! It is a stunning site but there are so many steps and precipitous slopes … Continue reading →

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Seaton Delaval Revisited

Posted on 21/03/2026 by The Garden History Blog

It’s over ten years since  I first visited Seaton Delaval Hall just north of  Newcastle. I wrote a post  about it shortly afterwards saying  I’d been  mesmerised by Vanbrugh’s  final masterpiece. I returned last week and came away even more impressed. … Continue reading →

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The Willow Pattern Story

Posted on 14/03/2026 by The Garden History Blog

Do you remember the first time you saw a Willow Pattern plate?  I’d guess it was when you were a child and  that probably like me you asked yourself at least some of the same questions as this writer  did … Continue reading →

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Hinton Ampner & Ralph Dutton

Posted on 07/03/2026 by The Garden History Blog

The National Trust holds many of our greatest historic houses and gardens but I often think its greatest holding is not those but the many less well-known, less grand and yet more typical small country houses and estates. I stopped … Continue reading →

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Compton Acres

Posted on 28/02/2026 by The Garden History Blog

I’ve just spent a long weekend in high winds and  pouring rain , exploring some of the gardens around Bournemouth.  Not ideal conditions, even in February,  but the unusual advantage was that we were usually the only people on site! … Continue reading →

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