The gardens at Crook Hall

Crook Hall is a Medieval manor house thought to have been built around the year 1217. The grounds of the hall feature ten acres of gardens in an interlinked series, each with a differing character. These include impressive borders, a secluded walled garden, an orchard and a moat pool and maze. The gardens complement each other well, although differing in age and personality. Formal areas with topiary hedges and straight lines are bordering traditional English cottage gardens.

The gardens are largely laid out in a 20th century manner, created after 1928 when John and Muriel Cassels moved into Crook Hall. John was the principle of Houghall Agricultural College but it was Muriel who most likely developed the garden, both to respect the earlier walled kitchen garden and to open up views to the cathedral and castle.

The gardens are also a haven for wildlife, buzzing with bees and butterflies, ducks and moorhens on the pond and songbirds.