The Garden Project at Berrington Hall

a drawing of a flower garden with lots of trees and colourful flowers. There are winding paths within the garden, and outlines of people walking. — Illustration of the West View of Flower Garden at Berrington Hall | © National Trust

A new flower garden is coming to Berrington Hall which will bring surprise, theatre and delight to this Georgian estate - the final work of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown.

In 2024, after a decade of planning and with funding from National Trust supporters and Blue Diamond Garden Centres, we began creating a new flower garden at Berrington Hall. The groundwork is now complete, with trees, shrubs, and over 20,000 bulbs already planted. By spring 2025, the planting will be finished. Although the garden is cordoned off for ongoing work, you can view its initial stages from one of the newly constructed accessible paths and we'll be sharing the garden's official opening date soon.

Planning the garden

Careful consideration was crucial to enabling change within the sensitive Grade II* Registered Park and Garden. The planning incorporated archaeological research and specialist advice to fully grasp the original designs of the gardens. It was revealed that original eighteenth-century design elements and desired early nineteenth-century influences got lost or hidden due to later changes in the garden's evolution. These findings, coupled with Brown's designs, actively guided us as we planned the new flower garden and visitor journey through the pleasure grounds.

Flower garden and pleasure grounds

Georgian pleasure grounds, like those ‘Capability’ Brown and Thomas Harley, Berrington Hall’s first owner, created, were intended to surprise and delight guests. The new flower garden will capture the essence of this. Beds filled with a mix of over 53,000 new flowering plants and bulbs, will bring more flowers than ever before to Berrington and give almost year-round interest. We’ve creatively incorporated 14 of the existing 26 much-loved yew balls, which are prominently placed and celebrated. Three new wisteria ‘umbrellas’ will echo the Georgian love of spectacle and the historic Wisteria Walk will be restored and extended to run along the southern length of the walled garden, for magnificent spring displays.

Illustrative drawings

A coloured illustration for planning, showing two paths leading away from the corner of the garden, with plants and shrubbery dotted throughout the central garden and a wisteria walk on the right. The mansion can be seen in the background. — Illustration of the East View of Flower Garden | © National Trust

Conceal and reveal

The different pathways through the flower garden will conceal and reveal different plants and features, surprising and delighting visitors with new views and sensory experiences around each corner.

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Re-aligning the paths

The new accessible path network has been completed. It’s closer to ‘Capability’ Brown’s original layout and will enable more people to have a better experience around the gardens. As the flowers, shrubs and trees establish, the new paths will ensure a grand entrance into the pleasure grounds. They will create a journey to conceal and reveal, surprising and delighting visitors as they move through the garden.

Building a flower garden

August 2024

Work begins

It was revealed that original eighteenth-century design elements and desired early nineteenth-century influences got lost or hidden due to later changes in the garden's evolution.

Explore the world of garden design

As the garden grows, we invite you to step into the shoes of a garden designer at Berrington Hall. You’ll find information panels explaining the work taking place and asking you to think about how you might design a garden and perhaps take inspiration from what’s happening. There’s also a garden surveyor's office set up in the stables, filled with books and equipment that a garden surveyor might use when planning their latest creation. We invite you to explore this space and reflect on gardens, how you enjoy them and what garden you might create.

A visitor looking at a gardening book on an antique desk — A visitor explores the garden surveyor's office | © National Trust / Nina Leonard

Our supporters

This project has been made possible through the generous funding of Blue Diamond Garden Centres and National Trust supporters.

The Curve

The Curve is a very special part of Berrington's garden. Designed as part of Capability Brown's final landscape, Berrington's curved walled garden is the only one of its kind globally that has survived the centuries almost entirely intact. In recent years, work has taken place to conserve and protect this unique space, removing the 20th century farm buildings and making necessary repairs to the walls and the Carpenters Workshop. Once this work was completed, we began a Research and Development project to explore new possibilities for The Curve, delving into the many ways people historically engaged with outdoor spaces and how that relationship continues to evolve.

Find out more about the Curve