Brodsworth Hall named as having one of the most glorious gardens to visit in the UK

Many stately homes across the country have now reopened their stunning grounds to the public for the summer months - with Brodsworth Hall and Gardens in South Yorkshire drawing particular attention.

The English Heritage-run site near Doncaster has just been named in the top ten of a national list by the PA Media news agency of the best glorious gardens to visit in the coming weeks.

The agency’s description says: “Spectacularly restored to their full Victorian splendour, the 15 acres of gardens at Brodsworth are home to a collection of grand gardens in miniature, filled with colourful seasonal plantings and displays. Stroll through the statue walks and the beautiful wild rose dell, with over 100 varieties of historic rose. You can also admire period bedding plants in the Flower Garden, including cannas and gingers for dot planting, with salvia, gazania, ageratum and verbena.”

Brodsworth is no stranger to such accolades, having been selected by The Times last year as second in the newspaper’s list of the most beautiful British gardens that are open to visitors. Horticultural expert Stephen Anderton described the stately home’s gardens as a “real mess” 20 years ago, before the start of a major restoration programme transformed the formal grounds.

The transformation of recent decades is just the latest chapter in the often-extraordinary story of Brodsworth. The current Brodsworth Hall was built in the 1860s for Charles Sabine Thellusson, who inherited the estate from his great-grandfather Peter after an extraordinary legal battle that had lasted for decades.

Peter made his fortune in part from providing loans to slave ship and plantation owners and amassing interests in those businesses when slave owners defaulted on debts. But he is best known for his unusual will, which sparked 60 years of legal battles, a change in the law and is believed to have inspired the labyrinthine case of Jarndyce v Jarndyce in Charles Dickens’s Bleak House.

His will saw his fortune and estates - which also included an estate in Suffolk - put into a trust fund for the benefit of unborn future generations at the expense of his children and grandchildren.

After his death in 1797, legislation called the Thellusson Act was introduced in 1800 to limit the time property could be left to accumulate and prevent similar scenarios unfolding. But the issue of his will was not resolved until 1858 - 61 years after his death.

In an article on the Brodsworth Hall website, the estate’s curator Caroline Carr-Whitworth explains: “The effect of the will for Brodsworth was that the estate was managed and enjoyed mainly by the trustees, probably with little investment in the house, for half a century. This may have been one of the reasons for the drastic changes undertaken by the next member of the Thellusson family to own Brodsworth.”

The 1858 judgement saw Charles granted the Brodsworth estate, with another of Peter’s great-grandsons, Frederick, 4th Lord Rendlesham, received the Suffolk estate and remaining Caribbean property.

A London architect was commissioned to swiftly build an Italianate mansion on the grounds by Charles. His four sons inherited Brodsworth in turn but falling agricultural income made maintenance increasingly difficult.

In 1931 Brodsworth was inherited by Charles Grant-Dalton, the son of Charles Sabine Thellusson’s daughter Constance. Grant-Dalton died in 1952 but his wife Sylvia remained until her death in 1998. Their daughter Pamela did not wish to take it on and in 1990 the house and gardens were given to English Heritage, who undertook five years of extensive restoration work before opening it to the public in 1995.

For more information, visit the English Heritage website. Pre-booking required.

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