The half-mile long Georgian Terrace was laid out by the first Lord Muncaster and is the earliest surviving manmade feature of the gardens, dating from the 1780s.

Bounded by its formal hedge with alternating yew pillars and box and providing shelter for a variety of rhododendrons and more rare and tender shrubs which would not otherwise survive our winters, it allows breathtaking views of the Lakeland fells. Visitors today can follow in the footsteps of the Pennington wives and children of that period (for whose benefit the Terrace was probably built) for an easy, level meander with stunning views. Today, it also has tremendous historic importance too.

Lord Muncaster’s original summerhouses along the route were renovated in 1890 and 1999 and other paths lead from the Terrace into Church Wood, home to many winter flowering rhododendrons, and the Japanese gardens with their maples, which are at their best in summer, camellia and bamboo planting.

We have one of the most outstanding collections of rhododendrons and camellias in the country, the planting scheme mimicking the environment in the Himalayas where many of our plants originate.

Plants from all over the world nestle against the backdrop of the Lakeland Fells. The Sino-Himalayan Gardens feature many specimens rarely seen in the West. Standing at almost sea level in the Himalayan gardens of Muncaster is startlingly similar to being 3350 metres (11,000ft) high in the Himalayan foothills.