About the garden
Owned by
Lord & Lady Ralph
Melbourne Hall Gardens with its broad sweeps of lawn, avenues and unexpected vistas is one of the best known formal gardens in the country and is one of the best surviving early 18th century English gardens in the manner of le Notre. It was laid out in the formal style by Rt. Hon Thomas Coke, Vice Chamberlain to Queen Anne, with help from the garden landscape designers George London and Henry Wise.
It is noted for its long tunnel of yew, its wrought iron pagoda created by Robert Bakewell and its statuary by Jan van Nost, notably the four seasons monument, a gift from Queen Anne.
Lord Ralph Kerr took over the running the Melbourne estate in 1987. His wife Lady Ralph Kerr is a painter of both portraits and landscapes. Since taking on the garden she has embarked on an extensive programme of restoration and planting within the original layout, and garnered praise from across the British gardening community. Her eye for colour and detail means that the Melbourne garden is a haven of delightful and unusual specimen trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders.
