The Gardens at Headlam Hall
06 August 2024
The Gardens at Headlam Hall – one of Teesdale’s Treasures
We’re definitely a gardening nation! After cooking/baking, gardening is Britain’s second favourite hobby, with two-fifths of the UK’s population regularly doing it. BBC Gardeners’ World is one of the country’s favourite magazines, and Gardeners’ Question Time one of Radio 4’s most listened to programmes.
One of the most impressive features of Headlam Hall is the beautiful walled garden that sits to the south of this 17th century country house, and our guests regularly praise this feature as one reason they love Headlam so much. Even TripAdvisor’s new Ai “bot”, summarising some of Headlam Hall’s strengths, comments that “guests frequently commend the well-kept grounds” and refers to the hotel’s “serene, rural location”.
Headlam Hall is, of course, a Jacobean mansion dating back to 1648. The walled garden at Headlam extends to around four acres and provides guests with a relaxing and tranquil place to enjoy for either a leisurely stroll or to sit and devour a good book on a sunny day.
The impressive main lawn with its colourful herbaceous borders is the first thing you can see as you stand on the raised terrace to the south of the Hall. Set with deck chairs in the summer season it’s a wonderful place to sit with a pre-dinner cocktail on a pleasant evening. Beyond the main lawn you’ll discover a secluded rose garden, walkways between huge and ancient beech hedges, an ornamental canal that runs through the garden, and stone folly bridge towers with views onto the golf course.
Headlam’s extensive kitchen garden is where we grow seasonal produce for our restaurant in line with our sustainability ethos, and you will often see the chefs amongst the plants on a summer's afternoon grabbing a few things for that evening’s dinner menu!
And whilst tranquillity is the order of the day, the gardens also offer guests some great activities, including a recently resurfaced tennis court and a superb outdoor exercise area.
Increasingly popular with gardeners - and also with those who just like to bring the outside into their homes - are group classes working with and learning about flowers and fauna. Towards Christmas we have two such classes here at Headlam. On Thursday 28th November, we’ll be hosting our third Christmas wreath-making class, and on Monday 16th December, there’s a brand new Festive Table Centrepiece Workshop open to all, including tea and coffee on arrival and a delicious two-course lunch.
It's hard to imagine that back in 1977 when John and Ann Robinson bought Headlam Hall to complement their adjacent farm, the gardens were so overgrown that they yielded 57 bales of hay when they were first cut! Fast forward to today, and you’ll find the whole team here at Headlam, not to mention our thousands of guests each year, rightly proud of the Headlam Hall gardens and wider grounds including the popular Headlam golf course. Rural tranquillity at its best!