‘Lost’ Edwardian masterpiece blooms again as Newby Hall officially opens restored Rock Garden

Yorkshire’s Newby Hall & Gardens has officially opened its restored Edwardian Rock Garden following a landmark seven-year conservation and replanting project, with broadcaster, writer and gardener Gyles Brandreth leading the celebrations.

Long regarded as one of the country’s finest houses and gardens, Newby Hall has transformed one of the UK’s largest and most ambitious historic rock gardens, restoring the eye-catching Edwardian landscape for a new generation of visitors more than a century after it was first created.

Gyles Brandreth, whose renowned 1,000-strong teddy bear collection is housed at Newby Hall, helped to officially open the garden. Giles said: “I, and my bears are honoured to be involved with Newby Hall.  It is a place of beauty, fun and history.  The completion of the Rock Garden is an amazing addition to what already is the finest garden in the North.  History is made every day but this is a monumental day in the garden’s development””

Newby Hall’s famous gardens are a jewel of the Yorkshire countryside, frequently featuring in television productions such as Peaky Blinders, Gentleman Jack and Victoria.

Originally laid out between 1912 and 1914 by Robert Vyner, then owner of Newby Hall, the 1,600 square metre Rock Garden was created at the height of the Edwardian rock garden movement. Inspired by alpine landscapes and the great plant hunting expeditions of the early 20th century, Vyner worked alongside the celebrated plantswoman Ellen Willmott, one of the most influential horticultural figures of the era and a close family friend.

Huge millstone grit boulders were transported from near Pateley Bridge on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales and carefully arranged into dramatic rocky outcrops, cliffs and planting pockets designed to recreate mountainous terrain. The garden featured a small waterfall cascading into a rill beneath an arched aqueduct bridge, and then through a grotto and into lily ponds below.

Construction was completed in the summer of 1914, only weeks before the outbreak of the First World War. Many of Newby’s gardeners enlisted for Kitchener’s Army and left to fight on the front line, with several never returning. The garden gradually declined over the following decades, becoming heavily shaded and overgrown as self-seeded trees, invasive shrubs and weeds overwhelmed the original planting.

Now officially reopened, the restored Rock Garden has been reimagined by owners Richard and Lucinda Compton, together with head gardener Lawrence Wright and the Newby gardening team, to recapture its original drama and romance while conserving it for future generations.

Since restoration work began in 2019, more than 35 overgrown and self-seeded trees have been removed to restore light and space to the garden, while buried pathways and hidden rock formations have been uncovered and reinstated

The restored planting scheme has been developed with the help of alpine specialists Stella and David Rankin of Kevock Garden Plants in Edinburgh. More than 10,000 plants, bulbs, shrubs and trees have been introduced across the site.

The new planting combines classic alpine species with woodland perennials and moisture-loving plants suited to the varied microclimates across the garden. Drifts of Pulsatilla, saxifrages, gentians, primulas, dwarf rhododendrons, trilliums, meconopsis, dwarf irises and rare woodlanders are woven through the rocks and watercourses. Many of the planting combinations are a nod to the adventurous plant collectors of the Edwardian period, with species originating from the Alps, Himalayas and East Asia.

Spring-interest plants include primulas, erythroniums, trilliums and anemones beneath flowering shrubs and dwarf conifers, while summer sees alpine dianthus, campanulas, penstemons and saxifrages in bloom. In lower beds near the River Ure, a tapestry of moisture-tolerant perennials thrive.  

Lucinda Compton said: “I first met Stella and David of Kevock at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show, where, enthralled by their stunningly beautiful alpines, I shyly admitted we had a neglected rockery. Three years later, on their way back to Edinburgh, they dropped in and couldn’t believe the scale and significance of our historic rock garden.

“I received a chainsaw for Christmas and started by felling 35 self-sown trees one weekend, guerrilla gardening with our caretaker. With a reluctant gardening team, who were worried about creating ongoing maintenance, and then Covid arrived, the first few years were indeed a battle. Thankfully, Kevock encouraged us, and in 2021, we built a new, young and enthusiastic team, headed up by Lawrence Wright. We are so grateful to our small, hard-working team of volunteers and Friends of Newby, and thrilled with the transformation.”

Head gardener Lawrence Wright said: “What has guided us throughout has been a desire to continue Newby’s long horticultural tradition. Newby has benefited from three successive generations of passionate and knowledgeable horticulturists within the family. It has been and always will be, at heart, a plantsperson’s garden; a place where great plants, thoughtful planting and horticultural excellence have inspired visitors for decades.

“As the Rock Garden evolved, we wanted it to reflect that same spirit. We wanted it to become a place of extraordinary plant diversity, offering something new to discover with every visit and ensuring it remains an exciting and inspiring part of Newby for generations to come”