The view as you arrive at Rydal MountRydal Mount & Gardens
1. Rydal Mount - Cumbria
Rydal Mount was William Wordsworth’s final family home for the greater part of his life from 1813 to his death in 1850 at the age of 80. The house is still owned by the Wordsworth family and retains the feel of a lived in family home.
Enjoy Poetry in the Garden
Poetry lovers and poets came together to celebrate Wordsworth 250th anniversary with readings from Rydal Mount.
Here is Kate Humble reading 'To The Cuckoo'.
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2. The Hepworth Wakefield - Yorkshire
Legendary sculptor Barbara Hepworth drew much of her inspiration from nature and often worked outside in her studio garden. Natural light and the outside elements have a permanent impact on her works.
In the new Hepworth Wakefield Garden you can find your artistic inspiration.
Katy in The Hepworth Wakefield Garden (2019) by The Hepworth Wakefield GardenThe Hepworth Wakefield
Inspired by Architecture
The garden draws inspiration from its unusual setting between 19th-century red-brick mills and a 21st-century art gallery. It echoes the striking, angular shapes of the David Chipperfield-designed gallery while harnessing a naturalism that reflects Barbara Hepworth's work.
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3. Plas Brondanw - Gwynedd
Plas Brondanw was the family home of architecure royalty: Clough Williams-Ellis, who created the iconic Italianate village Portmeirion.
The garden reflects his architect's eye with topiary and geometric beds that create a sense of angular calm.
The goddess Flora stands between the garden and the view (2020-07) by Plas BrondanwHistoric Houses
The Architect Gardener
Clough Williams-Ellis was only 25 when he inherited Plas Brondanw in 1908 and began work on the garden. Over his lifetime, he created a highly distinctive Italianate garden of vistas, steps and viewpoints that links to the mountains beyond.
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4. Mapperton House - Dorset
Mapperton is home to two generations of the Montagu family, the Earl and Countess of Sandwich and Luke and Julie Montagu. In the 21st century, the outstanding gardens have been finding a role on screen.
Why not visit and find some inspiration for a film, play or performance?
Filming Emma in the arboretum at Mapperton (1996) by MappertonHistoric Houses
From Paltrow to Austen
Gwyneth Paltrow starred in Emma with Jeremy Northam in 1996, filmed in Mapperton Gardens. The Austen drama concludes with true love under the specimen trees of the arboretum. The manor house appears as Mrs Weston's home, Randalls.
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5. Painshill Park - Surrey
The 18th Century creation Painshill Park by Charles Hamilton is a living painting, where your walk around the dramatic follies, calming waters and stunning views are an expression are artistic genius and creativity.
Painshill Park (c.1780) by UnknownGarden Museum
The Walk as Art
The entire estate is manipulated to create this idyllic landscape, even the lake which is irrigated from the river mole by a water wheel.
