Clifton Castle: Privately owned stately home in the Yorkshire Dales to open its gardens to the public this weekend

Lord and Lady Downshire are opening the grounds of Clifton Castle, near Masham, as part of the National Gardens Scheme charity's open days.

The gardens are open on Sunday June 12 from 2-5pm, and admission is £5 for adults and free for children.

Visitors can enjoy formal walks through the wooded pleasure grounds which feature bridges, follies, cascades and abundant wildflowers. The walled kitchen garden is similar to how it was set out in the 19th century. Recent wildflower meadows have been laid out with modern sculptures.

Clifton Castle, which was built in 1802, is open for occasional tours, the next of which is on June 15, and as part of the Heritage Open Days festival in September. It has a particularly fine staircase and its contents include important portraits, furniture, silver, china from 16th-19th centuries.

The house was built on the site of a 14th-century castle that belonged to the Scrope landowning family. It passed to the Marquess of Downshire, Nicholas Hill's, father in 1970. The estate includes numerous land holdings in Wensleydale, among them the Blue Lion public house in the village of East Witton.