Benington Lordship

Overview

The garden at Benington Lordship sits on an ancient fortified site which has been occupied since Saxon times. What you see today are the earthworks of a medieval motte and bailey castle and the ruins of a Norman keep, now a listed monument.

The gardens were initially laid out in the early 20th-century and surround the manor house, the core of which was built around 1700.

The magnificent neo-norman folly, comprising a gatehouse, summer house and adjoining curtain wall, was completed in 1838 by James Pulham of Broxbourne.

The west wing of the house was added in 1905 by the present owner's family with an Edwardian verandah which takes advantage of the glorious views over the park and surrounding farmland.

The garden is famous for its display of naturalised snowdrops around the moat and inner bailey. In spring, following the snowdrops, the garden is covered in swathes of scilla byzantica, daffodils, fritillaries and flowering shrubs and trees.

This is followed by the full summer glory of roses and the spectacular double herbaceous borders. In addition there are three spring fed pools which flow into two large ponds, one of which is managed as a wildlife haven. 

A walled kitchen garden is home to a small nursery and vegetable plots.