I drive past this garden most days when I drove down the A697 and have always wandered what they look like. So I jumped at the opportunity to have a nose around when I found out that it was open today. I was working today but still managed to pop in there for an hour on the way home.

Lilburn Towers is the amalgamation of 2 manors East and West Lilburn which were bought by the Clennell Family in the 18th Century. In the beginning of the 1820’s it bought by Henry Collingwood of Cornhill. He appointed architect John Dobson to design the Elizabethan Garden House. John Dobson is one of the most famous Architects in the North East and Newcastle. He is architect royalty and designed the Grainger Market, Old Eldon Square and the east side of Grey Street once voted recently the most beautiful street in Britain. The house was finished in 1842 and Henry Collingwood designed the gardens. Rather interesting the house then sold to a relative Edward John Collingwood who was the Nephew of Admiral Lord Collingwood.

The gardens consist of 10 acres of walled and formal gardens, A terrace garden called the Dutch Garden with a topiary hedge There is also magnificent Perennial beds which to me did not have a wider range of plants that they could have. I guess that ids because I am a plataholic and as I have a small garden I tend to cram a lot of plants in. Only a slight criticism.

In the walled garden is a magnificent vegetable patch and a large Victorian Glasshouse with vines, Lemon Trees and all sorts of vegetable and fruit plants you would expect to see in a glasshouse

There is also a walkway lined with Nepatia that has six Iron Tudor Arches that have roses growing up them.

I thought that was it when it came to the gardens and dutifully went to the plant stall to buy plants. The owner then informed me that there was a 30 acre woodland garden with wild flower meadows dotted around , Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Roses. This then leads to a large pond Garden.

The Pond Garden is truly beautiful and well worth a visit. It is beside the River Till a tributary of the Tweed. The river runs through the whole garden. It has a fantastic planting scheme for this shaded area. It has Trillums, Mecanopsis, Hostas, Giant Lillies , A large patch of Gumnera and to many plants to list. On the way to the garden is an avenue of Bamboo 2 really large collection arches of Rhodedndrons and a bridge covered with Honeysuckle.

This gardens are truly fantastic and a credit to North Northumberland. Unfortunately they are only open for 2 days a year for the National Garden Scheme. I will definitely be back next year.

Plants bought Erysium Wenlock Beauty and Trilliun Grandiflora.