Browsholme Hall

In 1975 when the current owner, Robert Parker inherited the Hall from a distant cousin, the gardens were very overgrown, the front lawn was grazed by sheep and the ponds and rockeries colonised by trees. Yet, underneath lay a landscape and garden that had continually changed in the hands of generations of the family since the house was built in 1507. Since the 17th Century, the grounds have been managed in the style of Capability Brown, perhaps reflecting the difficulty of maintaining a garden in high rainfall (80 inches per annum), 600ft above sea level and the unforgiving bolder clay on which it is situated.

With only a single gardener, the grounds are maintained as time and nature allows; it is a slow and patient process. Many projects take years to come to fruition, but this year they hope to restore and enlarge the ornamental pond next to the 'box' garden.

The Yew Walk, planted over 300 years ago as a hedge, now almost forms a tunnel and a sheltered path, even during windy weather.

The Chestnut Avenue by comparison is barely 100 years old, but the white 'candles' make a superb display in May - a prelude to a crop of conkers later in the year.

The lake, originally created around 1740, now extends to 3 acres and was one of the first restoration projects undertaken by the family in the 1970s. The walk around the lake - also a fluorishing breeding ground for trout - is both pleasant and tranquil.

The front lodge, built in the early 17th Century with the arch from Ingleton Hall, is the best place to admire the magnificent, picturesque setting of Browsholme.