Princess's former garden reopens
8 April 2010
A Yorkshire garden once owned by the Royal Family has been rescued from decades of neglect to open to the public for the first time in 80 years.
Goldsborough Hall, near Harrogate, was once the residence of HRH Princess Mary, the Queen's aunt, who lived there with her husband, Viscount Lascelles, from 1922 to 1930. The Princess Royal opened the 11-acre garden to the public for three years from 1928 as one of the very first gardens to raise money for charity under the National Garden Scheme (NGS).
Current owners Mark and Clare Oglesby have now restored the garden to its former magnificence, including 36-metre (120ft) long borders planted in the style of Gertrude Jekyll and a copse of five Japanese cherry trees given to Princess Mary as a wedding gift by the Emperor of Japan. They will reopen for the NGS on 28 March and 25 July.