Mulgrave Castle Gardens and Tudor Croft Arts and Craft Gardens

Mulgrave Castle
Home of the Marquis of Normanby, Mulgrave Castle lies on the Yorkshire Coast just north of Whitby. Built circa 1720 by Catherine, Duchess of Buckingham, daughter of James II, the Castle is set in a Repton landscape with views out to sea. The 12 acres of gardens overlook the ruined medieval castle nestled amongst Mulgrave woods.

Formal lawns and parkland surround the castle where pathways lead you towards the ‘Pleasure Grounds’. Through masses of spring bulbs and juvenile wild flower meadows we go through gates into a semi-formal area with a ninety meter long border designed by Penelope Hobhose, which flowers mid to late summer, then through more gates into a woodland garden with a tapestry of rhododendrons, magnolias, and other flowering trees and shrubs including Eucryphias, Dipeltas and Viburnums.

At the heart of the gardens is the walled garden located on a gentle south facing slope. The red brick and stone walls date back to 1780, with unusually, chimney stacks on all four sides. Fruit, vegetables and cut flowers are produced for the castle and also sent down to their house in London (all very Victorian!). On the northern wall are the glasshouses; housing vines, peaches, apricots, nectarines, figs and oranges. Within the walled garden are more decorative areas, including areas by Jellicoe and Arabella Lennox-Boyd. Around the back of the walled garden in the ‘working’ area are polytunnels for chrysanthemums, tomatoes etc. and during the winter months, home to our collection of over 80 camellias, which are one of Lord Normanby’s many passions.

Tudor Croft
Tudor Croft gardens were constructed over a period of ten years from 1934 in the Arts & Crafts style by a wealthy brick manufacturer who utilised the best crafstmen and materials of the day. The Heagney family bought it as an overgrown garden in 1952 and have spent some sixty years filling it with plants from across the world, all catalogued and discreetly labelled. 

The five acre garden features a fernery, a long rose pergola, borders, water gardens and many hidden areas, with a trout stream flowing through it all.  It is an exciting, beautifully presented garden, full of surprises.  It has featured on BBC’s ‘Gardeners’ World and in many magazines.

Directions

Directions to Mulgrave Castle
From Middlesborough take A171 east towards Whitby.
From York take the A64 east towards the coast.Just after Malton take the A169 to Whitby.
Turn left on outskirts of Whitby and take the A174 to Sandsend. Go through Sandsend and up Lythe Bank into Lythe. At The Stiddy pub turn left, drive about 100m and go through a green gate saying private, follow the narrow drive down to the castle.
Post code for sat navs: YO21 3RJ( this can take you to the lodge halfway up Lythe Bank- ignore it and carry on up to the top of Lythe Bank into Lythe itself).

Directions to Tudor Croft
Access is from the Whitby to Middlesbrough A 171.   At the west end of the Guisborough bypass turn towards Guisborough at the well signed ‘Woodhouse’ roundabout.   At the first traffic lights turn right into Stokesley Road – A 173 – and after 400 yards park on the left side of the road, just before the gardens.
 
The address is Tudor Croft, Stokesley Road, Guisborough TS14 8DL.

Programme

10.00  Arrive.  Coffee/tea and biscuits
10.30  Tour of gardens with Head Gardener Jonathan Parkinson
12.15  Talk by Koppert representative on Biological control. 
12.45  Buffet Lunch
13.45  Drive to Tudor Croft, Guisborough
14.30  Tour of gardens by Mike Heagney (owner)
16.15  Tea & scones.  Depart

Booking