Brodsworth Hall's restored gardens named Great British Garden of the Year 2026

There is good reason to head to Brodsworth this year. The gardens at Brodsworth Hall, near Doncaster, have been named Great British Garden of the Year 2026, a lovely reward for decades of careful restoration.

The house itself is a time capsule. Built between 1861 and 1863 in the Italianate style for Charles Sabine Augustus Thellusson, it was designed by Philip Wilkinson, a little-known London architect who was just 26 at the time. The family lived here for well over a century, and after Sylvia Grant-Dalton died in 1988, her daughter Pamela Williams gave the hall and gardens to English Heritage in 1990.

Rather than restore the interiors to their Victorian prime, English Heritage chose to conserve the house as it was found. Visitors explore grand ground-floor rooms with chandeliers and marble statues, a vast Victorian kitchen and a later Aga kitchen, complete with the original housekeeper's chair, alongside changing exhibitions with volunteer room stewards.

Outside are around six hectares of Italianate gardens laid out in the 1860s and restored by English Heritage to their original designs from the 1990s onwards. Highlights include formal topiary and bedding displays, a fern dell crossed by bridges, a wild rose dell, a restored summerhouse and the Target Range, with its colourful beds and Classical-style Eyecatcher. The Quarry Garden marks the spot where stone for the hall was extracted.

The newest highlight is Miss Pam's Garden, named after the hall's last private owner, whose favourite spot it was. It was restored using historic maps and ground-penetrating radar to find lost pathways, with around 500 to 600 shrubs and trees planted with help from up to 50 volunteers.

This year's A Season of Flowers, running until 1 November 2026, adds a recreated garden room and a floral display in the dining room, included with admission. Halloween half-term activities follow, and Father Christmas visits on weekends in December. There is a tearoom in the servants' wing and a playground inspired by the family's history.

Brodsworth Hall and Gardens is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Prices and event details are on the English Heritage website.