Levens Hall and Gardens Embarks on Secrets Mission Inspired by Mysterious Founder

Levens Hall and Gardens is undertaking a secret mission to spread the love of topiary further than ever, by exchanging secrets with other world topiary gardens.

The South Lakes venue, Cumbria’s Small Visitor Attraction of the Year, is turning its World Topiary Day celebration for 2025 into one that is all about sharing knowledge.  This is rooted in the fact that, despite four years of effort, not one person has come forward with any information about the founder of the world’s oldest topiary garden at Levens Hall and Gardens, Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont.

Having explored avenues in the UK and in France, from where Beaumont is said to have originated, there is so little information about him that there is a feeling he could possibly have been, as many gardeners of his time were, an undercover agent or spy.  As he was the head gardener of staunch royalist and Stuart monarchy supporter, Colonel James Grahme, at a time when the Stuarts were in exile in France, the plot thickens.

Although a portrait hanging inside Levens Hall says, ‘Monsieur Beaumont: Gardener to King James 2nd & to Col. Jas Grahme. He laid out the Gardens at Hampton Court Palace and at Levens,’  there is no further detail on any of this to be had. 

All we know is that he founded the Levens Hall topiary garden in 1694 and was head gardener until 1727, moving between Levens Hall and Grahme’s property at Bagshot Park, particularly in the earlier years.  Although he was then said to be buried at Heversham, it is not known where his grave was located.

Taking this theme of deep secrets, Levens Hall and Gardens is ready to unite world topiary gardens in one shared celebration once again, on Sunday May 11.  Secrets from Levens Hall will be shared with gardeners around the world and Levens Hall will hear some of the secrets from other gardens, including over 30, spread across the world, who are participating in World Topiary Day 2025.

This builds on the hugely popular Topiary Tourism guide, which Levens Hall and Gardens created as a free download from its website at www.levenshall.co.uk  This allows enthusiasts to plan a holiday itinerary around topiary, by detailing the topiary offering at 35 gardens across the world.

Levens Hall and Gardens is also this year running an international children’s story-writing competition, which any child, aged 8-11, can enter.  Children are being asked to  write a story on the theme of “The Secret Life of Topiary.”   The story can be secretive and imaginative; mysterious or fantasy.

A trophy will be given to the best entry received from the UK and the best entry from overseas, once topiary gardens overseas have submitted their children’s entries to Levens Hall and Gardens for judging.  Entries should be sent to jane@catapultpr.co.uk

All of this will create a crescendo of interest in World Topiary Day, which is absolutely the key day in the calendar on which to visit Levens Hall and Gardens, for those wanting to know the secrets of the world’s oldest topiary garden. These secrets will be imparted on two public tours, led by the head gardener, Chris Crowder, taking place at 11 am  and 2 pm.

Levens Hall and Gardens’ owner, Richard Bagot, says, “Levens Hall and Gardens has always been a place of secrets, from the time that details of our secret-recipe Morocco Ale were hidden in the gardens during the English Civil War.  With all the mystery around Guillaume Beaumont, we decided this would be a great theme for World Topiary Day 2025, allowing us to exchange secrets with topiary gardens around the world, for mutual benefit.

“It is still a secret to many that we have such a glorious asset, in the form of the world’s oldest topiary garden here, so World Topiary Day allows us to reach out and raise awareness in a unique way.  We shall this year not just be revealing some of our secrets, but those of other topiary gardens around the globe.”

To keep abreast of all World Topiary Day news, keep checking the Levens Hall and Gardens news area at www.levenshall.co.uk

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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.