A guide to Cumbria and the Lake District, England, highlighting attractions, history, and visitor information.
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Levens Hall & Topiary Gardens A guide to Cumbria and the Lake District, England, highlighting attractions, history, and visitor information. |
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Levens Hall & Topiary GardensThe core of this delightful Elizabethan manor is a pele tower built in 1350 as a defense against Scottish raiders. The later Elizabethan home was built around the tower by the Bellingham family, who created a comfortable home with paneled rooms decorated with fine plasterwork ceilings. The dining room is worthy of special note; it has unusual embossed leather wall coverings from Cordova. The house was expanded in 1694 by Col. James Grahme, former Privy Purse to James II. Rooms feature the family collections of paintings and memorabilia, including the earliest known example of English patchwork. Among the various items on display are Beau Brummel's snuff box, paintings by Van Dyck, Brueghel the Elder, and Rubens, and items associated with the Duke of Wellington and Admiral Nelson. Levens Hall is home to several resident ghosts; a Grey Lady is known to appear in front of cars on the driveway, a woman in a print dres and cap appears before children, and a small black dog wanders the hall. THE TOPIARY GARDENS The topiary of clipped yew and box hedges is underplanted with bedding plants in spring and summer, making for excellent colour. A rose garden, herbaceous borders, and a nuttery complete a most enjoyable garden. The most recent addition at Levens Hall is a fountain, approached by an avenue of pleached lime planted to celebrate 300 years of the gardens. Best viewed in: summer.
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