Tatton Park Gardplessureens - Pleasure Grounds

The Pleasure Grounds at Tatton Park are probably better known as the ‘playground’ of the garden for the family to enjoy.

One of the earliest features of Tatton Park's garden is the Maze which was on a very early plan of 1700 and is based on the same format as the maze at Hampton Court. Although it is deciduous, it was originally planted with Hornbeam, however, over a period of years more Beech has been added.

The first formal garden at Tatton was the area known as Charlotte's Lawn, designed by Lewis Wyatt to complement the Library furnishings of Tatton's Mansion in 1814.

The trend at the time was ‘Gardenesque’. The design consisted of an intricate flower garden containing many small beds which accommodated single plants of botanical interest of the time. This area has been partially restored.

Tatton's Topiary is located near here and was a feature originally introduced by the Romans and revived by the Victorians though it was then much bigger than at present. Today it still retains the style of a typical Victorian garden - the central feature being a peacock.

The Italian garden at the front of Tatton Park's mansion was designed by Joseph Paxton and reflected the opulence of the period of the Italian ‘grand tour’ by the young gentlemen of the family.

Further gardens developed over time including the Rose Garden which was laid out in 1913 for Lady Egerton, wife of Alan de Tatton and is both feminine and intimate; the Tower Garden, which in contrast has a more masculine feel and is dominated by a tower which would once have been used to watch for sheep stealing on Tatton's parkland  and the Japanese garden inspired by a visit to the Anglo-Japanese Exhibition at the White City in London in 1910.

The pleasure gardens also contain massive planting of Rhododendron and Azalea which set the place ‘ablaze’ in Spring with their amazing colours.

Also on the west side of the garden, and not to be missed, is the Arboretum containing many rare conifers which were brought back from some of the more famous plant hunting expeditions in which the family were involved. Tours of the arboretum take place the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Sunday each month from March 24th - Sep 30th 2013 (excluding April 1st and Jul 28th) at 2pm. Book on the day at the garden entrance

Other notable features include the Rose Garden Tea House; Broad Walk; The Choragic Monument which was a copy of the Temple of Lysicrates in Greece (literally means “Chorus” as it was the meeting point for the choir practice of townspeople for a national choir festival); and the African Hut which was built during the war to remind Maurice Egerton of his estate in Njoro, Kenya which is now Egerton University.