Holker Hall

Holker Hall is a superb Victorian house built on a grand scale in a style best described as neo-Elizabethan. It is the home of Lord and Lady Cavendish, and despite the richness of the interior this is very much a family home.

The first house on this site was built in the early 16th century, but the present building is largely a product of the 1870s. The New Wing houses enjoyable collections of furniture, fine art, and decorative arts. Of special note is an Estate Rent Table by Chippendale, and the collection of 3500 books.

The cantilevered grand staircase is a work of art in its own right. The staircase was hand carved by workers on the Holker estate, and each baluster is completely unique.

Holker Hall is located on the Cartmel Peninsula, which extends out into Morecambe Bay.

THE GARDENS
The Gardens surrounding Holker Hall cover 24 acres of woodland and formal garden areas. The gardens are an intriguing mix of Italianate design with English tradition, with 200 year old parkland, woodland walks, a sunken garden, rose gardens, azaleas, rhododendron, and spring bulbs. Specimens are well labeled. The deer park stretches to over 125 acres of attractive walks, and there is a special Potting Shed Gardening History Exhibition.

Holker Hall hosts an annual garden festival in early June.

LAKELAND MOTOR MUSEUM
The third of Holker's trio of attractions, this award-winning museum houses over 20,000 articles ranging from advertising posters and petrol pumps to vintage motorcycles, cars, tractors, bycycles, and pedal cars. Within the museum is the Campbell Legend Bluebird Exhibition, the largest museum devoted to the exploits of land and water speed record breakers Malcolm and Donald Campbell. The museum includes replicas of the Campbell's record-breaking 1935 Bluebird car and Bluebird K7 hydroplane.