Yorkshire Garden Trip: Newby Hall

One of my favorite gardens we visited on our Yorkshire Garden Trip was Newby Hall. Newby Hall was built for William Weddell, but the first home wasn’t like the stately one now standing. The main part of the current house was designed by Sir Christopher Wren for Sir Edward Blackett. Sir Blackett must have had some pull to get Wren who also designed St. Paul’s Cathedral and many other buildings after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

Pipes to an early water collection system that I thought were cool.

Newby Hall fountain at the rear of the house.

Old rain collection tank.

The backside of Newby Hall with the great lawn. The lawn is looking parched because Yorkshire is in a drought.

Newby Hall’s Proud History.

The Weddell family eventually acquired the land and the home and set about making it theirs. They made improvements and employed architects to enlarge the house. If you loved the television show, Downton Abbey, as I did, you’ll be happy to know that a real Lord Grantham lived in the home at one time, and it is currently owned by Richard & Lucinda Compton, who are related indirectly to the Weddell family. Complicated, isn’t it? Lucinda Compton is a conservationist which is good since she now co-owns a historic property.

Newby Hall has been the film set for many television shows and movies, including starring as both Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace in the ITV series Victoria.

The Gardens.

Newby Hall’s fantastic long herbaceous borders.

Closeup of one of Newby Hall’s long borders. The borders were completely redesigned in 1921 by the current owner’s grandfather.

Newby Hall’s long herbaceous borders, replanted by Lucinda Compton. The borders were the original gardens at the house.

But, as beautiful as the house is, I was more interested in the gardens.

Of course, I was.

Newby Hall is surrounded by forty acres of gardens. You read that right. Forty glorious acres filled with statuary, pergolas, arbors and mature trees and shrubs.

More borders along the central axis at Newby Hall.

Fantastic dogs atop cotoneaster, probably C. divaricatus at Newby Hall.

Another fantastic English rose. Roses in England are really something. They bloom more heavily than they do in Oklahoma for sure. This one wasn’t tagged so I don’t know the variety.,

Richard Compton’s grandfather, Major Edward Compton, inherited Newby Hall in 1921, and there weren’t many gardens left to see. In fact, he is often quoted as saying “I found I had inherited an exceptionally beautiful home but no garden to speak of – a lovely picture but no frame.”

Major Compton completely redesigned the gardens, and it took him over fifty years to finish his “Grand Design.” He died in 1977. Here you can read more history about the gardens, His son, Robin Compton VMH, was a botanist who put his own stamp on his father’s design, and his wife, Jane, also loved flower design. They both carried on the legacy.

Lucinda Compton and Mark Jackson, Head Gardener, now manage the gardens with volunteer help and a dedicated garden team. Although the gardens are relatively new in comparison to the home’s age, they seem very mature because of the large trees on the property. Bill and I found these trees to be invaluable on the day we visited because the weather was quite hot.

In June, Yorkshire was in the midst of a drought which you can see from the browning in the Great Lawn. Newby Hall holds the National Cornus Collection of flowering dogwoods, and we were right in time to see them at their best.

Formal ate to Sylvia’s Garden at Newby Hall.

Gracious beds and borders in Sylvia’s Garden. Small flowering plants give it a frothy appearance.

The center of Sylvia’s Garden. You can tell they spend a lot of time working in this beautiful space. The centerpiece is an “ancient stone Byzantine corngrinder.”

A standard or grafted tree rose makes an exclamation point at the edge of one bed in Sylvia’s Garden.

Dark midnight belue delphiniums. Delphiniums are the most magical plants. I wish we could grow them here. Alas, it’s just too hot.

Staked delphiniums in a light shade of blue. Aren’t they just like a darkened sky?

Sylvia’s Garden.

However, by far, my favorite garden was Sylvia’s Garden. I thought its gated and multi-level sunken room was charming, and the surrounding yew hedge was the perfect backdrop for all these fantastic blooms. Sylvia’s Garden was one of the earliest gardens designed and planted by Major Compton. It was named after his wife, Sylvia Farquharson, and it is now her memorial garden. Although it is very formal in style, it doesn’t feel that way because billowy blooms spill into walkways. In fact, it feels almost frothy. Please click on the photos in the galleries, above, to enlarge them. They are worth seeing for their exquisite detail.

Newby Hall also boasts a children’s garden and a miniature railway which is quite popular. I’m sorry I didn’t take any photos of the latter because I was overwhelmed at all of the other gardens, and honestly, railways gardens are just not my thing.

Please don’t hate me for it.

I did find this beautiful Damask rose for you.

What else can I say about Newby Hall? Next time, if I have time, I’ll also visit the house. There never is enough time on trips, is there?