Historic Houses and Gardens: Levens Hall and Gardens - Full Day All-inclusive Tour

Let us bring you to this charming ancestral home where you will approach the house by the north facing stone staircase and open the grand front door with its ornate knocker. Inside you will embark on a journey back through time. Levens Hall has been occupied since about 1350 but the interior is of the Elizabethan period with its fine oak panelling and ornate plasterwork. A family house throughout history, you can trace their stories, see how the house is still lived in, and examine the fascinating collection of contents which reflect the changing owners and their personal achievements.

The original Pele Tower and Hall at Levens were built between 1250 and 1300. That moated and fortified structure was one of a chain of such buildings locally. They provided the area with defensive power and stability in troubled times of border conflict. However, the de Redman family, owners since 1170, sold the property to the Bellinghams in 1562 and it was they who converted the grim mediaeval shell into the comfortable Elizabethan home we see today. In 1688, the estate changed hands again, to pay for Alan Bellingham's gambling debts. Colonel James Grahme acquired the property, and the old tradition that Levens was won with the turn of the Ace of Hearts probably has some foundation in fact.

There are twelve wonderful acres of gardens at Levens Hall waiting to be explored and enjoyed. They include the unique collection of ancient and extraordinary topiary characters sculpted from box and yew. They rise up from a spectacular seasonal underplanting populated with an ever-changing range of over thirty thousand flowers. Further on, beyond the romantic old orchard and separated by the great beech hedges, lie the magnificent herbaceous borders. Laid out in the 1690s, the garden amazingly still retains many of its original features. Its very special atmosphere is partly felt through a great sense of continuity. Those three centuries of garden making have made it a magical place.

Grahme had done well for himself in Court Society, He was 'Keeper of the Privy Purse' and 'Master of the King's Buckhounds'. But when his King, James II abdicated he was on the wrong side of the 'Glorious Revolution', out of favour and out of a job. He therefore set about improving his newly acquired house and lands at Levens. He brought with him another victim of the change of regime, the frenchman Monsieur Guillaume Beaumont, one time gardener to James II and trained at Versailles, who had been responsible in part for the wilderness garden at Hampton Court Palace.

It was laid out formally, influenced by the Dutch style of that William and Mary period. But taste in garden design soon moved on as the natural landscape became more important. Nearly all these old formal gardens were ripped out and replaced during the 18th Century. At Levens, lack of fashion conscious male heirs throughout much of its history, and the fact that this was seldom the family's main home both contributed to this garden's survival. Despite financial pressures, this most labour intensive of gardens has been maintained, and the unique creation of Grahme.

Then, back out and back to the present drinking in the heady Cumbrian fresh air. Walk lunch off along the footpaths that make their way through the deer park at Levens Hall revealing some of the most beautiful and timeless scenery in the country. Levens Park is part of a much earlier medieval deer park or hunting enclosure. It was landscaped at about the same time that the gardens were being laid out, three hundred years ago. The early tourists of the 18th century found its picturesque natural grandeur and wild rugged beauty much more attractive than the by then dated and unfashionable formality of the gardens. It is of great importance historically as it marks the beginning of the transition toward the natural landscape style that was to dominate English gardening for at least the next century.

The original carriage drive approach to the Hall would have been through the Park, and here Beaumont emphasised its importance by planting the dramatic and now ancient mile long avenue of oaks. Elsewhere within the Park, plantings were made to enhance the natural effect, rather than to dominate or obliterate it. Trees were placed in natural groupings and woodlands allowed to follow the curves of the river valley. Black Fallow Deer and a herd of rare breed Bagot Goats roam the park in a landscape little changed over the centuries.

Returning home, you will pass through the heart of the Lyth Valley, one of "the most beautiful places on earth" according to a book by the Lonely Planet showcasing beauty from across the globe. It describes the damson rich valley as unspoilt in a hidden corner of Cumbria where trees are laden with fruit and the rolling hills are the most magnificent green. What better way is there to spend a lazy summer's day?