Levens Hall

The gardens were designed in the 1690s by Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont, gardener to King James II and Colonel James Grahme.  The ten acres of gardens retain many original features including over 100 ancient box and yew trees.  Some of the trees and bushes are over 300 years old and the layout of this garden has changed very little since their planting and initial training.  In the late 17^th century it was highly fashionable to have a garden in the Dutch style with clipped greens set in a pattern of formal box-edged flower beds.  Fashions had changed by the 1730s however, and most similar gardens were ripped out to make way for the new trend of natural landscaping.  Amazingly the gardens at Levens Hall survived that purge, were enhanced in the 19^th century and continued through the economic pressures of the 20^th century. Most pieces of topiary here are nameless abstract or geometric shapes but others are very distinct and are named accordingly:  King and Queen chess pieces, the Judge’s Wig, the Howard Lion, the Great Umbrellas, Queen Elizabeth and her Maids of Honour, a Jug of Morocco Ale and four Peacocks.