An early-Spring visit to Mellerstain Gardens

In Scotland, March is not known as a month for garden-visiting. The snowdrops are past their best and everyone politely waits for May and the arrival of the early herbaceous and, of course, the ‘rhoddies’, as we call them (rhododendrons). There are of course things that flower but they tend to be quite little and perhaps more geared to seasonal bedding and planters than grand estates. And there are daffodils…

The lake, which sits to the south of the house.

So, deciding to open one’s garden to the public is a brave thing to do in March. When we heard that Mellerstain House’s gardens were now open all year round, we did go with the mindset that this would be a pleasant Spring walk round a country estate with good views of the house and perhaps some (fairly stark) gardens thrown in. And I think this was a good approach to take, as we enjoyed our visit, despite the cloud cover, having the place pretty much to ourselves.. The Mellerstain estate is capacious and there are lovely walks through the woods. We went in a big loop, actually well outside the formal grounds, right around their perimeter. We discovered the (no longer used) old walled garden (we seem to have a nose for this) and some beautiful houses in the woods, joining the grounds again beside the lake. Incidentally the grounds have many huge, and very old, rhododendrons, which will offer a riot of colour in May.

The formal gardens at Mellerstain aren’t huge, but they are noteworthy, centred around a series of Italianate terraces to the south of the house. These are not original though (the house is 18th Century), but installed in 1910 by Reginald Bloomfield, following the character of the original gardens. Formal rose beds and herbaceous borders abound here, so will be at their best from June to September. When we visited, clipped box and yew provided the living interest, although running along the full length of the house some Spring colour was evident in a well-stocked border that was showing intriguing teasers of later horticultural interest! The balustrades and paving complement the sandstone of this fine house. There are grand staircases, a loggia and a raised goldfish pond. All very Italianate, perhaps a little more so if the sun had been out and the temperature some 20C warmer! As Jane, Duchess of Northumberland might say, ‘this place has good bones’, and it’s those bones that principally provide the winter interest.

When we were there, there was clear evidence that the gardens were being pruned and primped for the season but there was clearly still quite a lot of work to be done. Grass had been aerated but was still to be mown. A lot of last year’s herbaceous was still to be cut back and flower beds still to be pricked over. To be fair to them, the gardeners used to have until the Easter weekend to get the gardens ready for the season, and this garden is clearly planted for the summer months, so if you’re expecting colour in March, this is probably not the time to visit.

The charming Tea House

But if you do visit, don’t miss the charming little thatched tea house to the north side of the house. This has its own little cottage garden (again in the middle of winter clearance when we visited) with yew-edged borders and is like something out of Hansel and Gretel.

When we visited, the cafe in the courtyard (beautifully planted!) was not yet open but helpfully the bathrooms were. Check Mellerstain’s website for details of when the cafe and house open, if you want the full experience.

The Courtyard

Did we enjoy our visit? Absolutely, this place has a real charm and oozes atmosphere. It has a real sense of place, sitting comfortably in the surrounding landscape and is wonderfully elegant and old-fashioned. The house is impressive but it is also quite beautiful and presents an amazing backdrop to the formal gardens, which are not overly manicured. Indeed, there is a faded elegance to the place which, in many ways, contributes to the atmosphere of shades of a bygone era.

For details of Mellerstain House, check out their website. Note that our visit took place in mid-March 2025, when only the gardens and grounds were open.