Cumbrian Small Visitor Attraction of the Year Enjoys Big Exposure

Levens Hall and Gardens, recent winner of the Small Attraction of the Year Award at the Cumbria Tourism Awards 2024, is to feature on the TV programme, Cumbria: The Lakes and the Coast, in an episode to air on July 31.

Head gardener, Chris Crowder, will be interviewed in the programme which will showcase gardens best-known for being home to the world’s oldest topiary garden, where an Alice in Wonderland-type experience can be had, viewing over 100 dramatically and quirkily shaped topiary trees.

This TV exposure is just one example of what has been happening at Levens Hall and Gardens in recent months.  Another TV crew filmed for Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes, with both Robson Green and Helen Skelton visiting Levens Hall and Gardens.  In the past couple of weeks, a major fashion brand has staged a photo shoot in the gardens.

Media are not the only visitors. This summer, the Levens Hall gardens will be benefiting from topiary tourism, with the Cumbrian heritage home having produced a leaflet that highlights the tourism offering not just at Levens Hall itself, but also at 34 other worldwide gardens. This is available as a download from www.levenshall.co.uk and has already caught the eye of press and garden lovers alike.

It is also benefiting from a new feature for 2024 – art in the garden.  Artist Bob Sutcliffe has a season-long ‘Tree Therapy’ exhibition in the gardens, with 11 works of art, which are undergoing several ‘refreshes’ as the season progresses, hidden around the gardens on giant easels, for visitors to discover.

This supports Bob’s charity fundraising efforts, through sales of a book available in the Levens Hall gift shop. The proceeds support creative activities in hospices, delivered by Bob’s charity, The Creative Health Trust.

Chris Crowder has also recorded a ‘Poodling Around’ podcast, which highlights just how stunning the gardens are in summer.  The extensive parallel herbaceous borders are in full glory, with a colour distinction that helps quarter the garden, moving from pastels in one double border, to rich and fiery red, blue and purple plants in another.  This highlights the original 1690s layout of the gardens, by Frenchman Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont.

David Austin English roses are equally stunning in the areas in which these are planted, whilst the beds are now featuring the summer bedding plants - some of the 30,000 plants grown on-site at Levens Halls and Gardens each year.

The vegetable and herb gardens are also at their best and there is an abundance of produce in the orchard and nuttery.  The uninterrupted view afforded by the earliest example  of a ha-ha in England is another joy to behold and now is the best time of year to appreciate the quintessentially English nature of the Bowling Green, used by the local croquet club.

The Fountain Garden is perhaps the most lovely place to be in summer, with sunlight cascading down on to the water lilies and creating a myriad of visual effects.

With a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by the Handlebards, on July 25, Flutes & Co in the Garden on August 18, regular yoga and kundalini yoga sessions for anyone to join, and a Rover Car Rally on September 8, there is a lot going on.

Owner, Richard Bagot, “We were delighted to win the Cumbria Tourism Award but are building on our successes to date in many different ways.  The message about Levens Hall and Gardens being a very special place to visit is spreading not just nationwide but worldwide and we are proud to be able to represent Cumbria and the Lake District in all that we do.”         

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Editors notes

Levens Hall & Gardens is a historic house in the South Lakes, Cumbria, close to Kendal and home to the world's oldest topiary gardens, dating from 1694, created by French garden designer, Guillaume Beaumont. The Hall is a stunning Elizabethan house built around a 13th century pele tower and has close links to the Duke of Wellington, as well as various items which once belonged to him and Napoleon Bonaparte. Levens Park is home to the rare Bagot goats gifted to the Bagot family and a place in which to stroll and enjoy nature. Levens Kitchen is the contemporary new cafe, full of delights for cake lovers and foodies alike.