Beningbrough Hall, an 18th century manor overlooking the river Ouse near York has an exciting addition to its historic landscape: a Mediterranean Garden designed by award-winning landscape architect Andy Sturgeon. Created as part of a long-term masterplan for the estate, the garden offers a fresh perspective on how historic places can adapt to the changing climate.
Once a simple grassy area beside the Hall, the site has been reimagined into a vibrant, climate-resilient landscape featuring more than 4,000 herbaceous perennials, grasses, trees and shrubs sourced from Mediterranean climate zones across the world. These plants have been carefully chosen to withstand hotter, drier summers and wetter winters.
Central to the design are strong architectural elements and subtle landscaping. Long, low walls crafted from local York stone provide structure, while winding paths guide visitors through textured planting. Water features, including a rill and a reflective pond with stepping stones, create a sense of calm and echo the historic garden elements once found here, revealed in archive research.
Sturgeon describes the space as “a vast gravel garden that sits comfortably in the historic setting” — a blend of contemporary planting and timeless design. The garden also boosts biodiversity: over 3,500 plants have been selected from the RHS Plants for Pollinators list, a significant increase from previous schemes, inviting bees, butterflies and other wildlife into the heart of the landscape. The Mediterranean Garden sits alongside Beningbrough’s formal borders, walled kitchen garden and pergola.
The designer commented, “The new Mediterranean Garden sits perfectly alongside the Italian architecture of the hall. Over the centuries, the hall has been constantly reinvented – this new garden continues that spirit of renaissance. We hope that visitors will enjoy this garden, but also be inspired to future proof their own gardens.”
Beningbrough Hall is an elegant early-18th-century baroque house. Built in 1716 for John Bourchier, the Hall is renowned for its striking red-brick façade and formal symmetry, having passed through several owners before coming into the care of the National Trust. The architecture and collections on the ground floor tell the story of a country house, while the Reddihough Galleries on the first-floor host changing exhibitions of contemporary and traditional artwork. Surrounded by landscaped gardens and parkland, Beningbrough offers lovely walks around the estate and of course, excellent National Trust cakes!
