The Alnwick Garden and its Poison Garden

The Alnwick Garden is one of the most original contemporary gardens in Europe, in Northumberland, next to Alnwick Castle, home of the Dukes of Northumberland. Created from 1997 by Duchess Jane Percy, it combines a great water cascade, an orchard of Japanese cherry trees, a rose garden, one of the largest treehouses in the world and the famous Poison Garden, where around a hundred toxic and deadly plants grow. Next door, the castle is famous for having been Hogwarts in the first Harry Potter films.

History

The Dukes of Northumberland, of the Percy family, have lived in Alnwick Castle for more than seven centuries. In the 18th century the great landscape designer Capability Brown laid out the park around the castle, and in the 19th century a walled garden was created which, after the Second World War, fell into neglect and became a tree nursery. In 1995 Jane Percy, who had become Duchess, decided to bring it back to life with an ambitious project, conceived as a public place for the community. Entrusted to the Belgian landscape architects Jacques and Peter Wirtz, the garden opened in 2001 and is now run by a charity.

What to see

The Grand Cascade

At the entrance is the Grand Cascade, a water staircase of 21 weirs, the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom, with water features and jets that change at regular intervals. On either side, hornbeam tunnels form green galleries, and the whole design opens up towards the ornamental garden at the top.

The Poison Garden

The Poison Garden, behind an iron gate bearing a skull and crossbones, can only be visited with a guide. Here grow beautiful and deadly plants: deadly nightshade, foxglove, aconite, castor oil plant, hemlock, yew, cherry laurel and many others, some locked in cages. The guides tell stories of famous poisonings, medicines and superstitions, with humour and a touch of shivers. Touching, smelling or tasting is strictly forbidden.

The Ornamental Garden and the Rose Garden

At the top of the cascade, the walled Ornamental Garden holds thousands of plants arranged in perfect geometries, with fountains and pergolas. The Rose Garden brings together hundreds of varieties, mostly English roses, wonderfully fragrant in June. The Cherry Orchard, with hundreds of Japanese Taihaku cherry trees, is covered in white blossom in spring, with swings hanging from the branches.

The Treehouse

The Treehouse is a wooden village built among the treetops, with suspended walkways, rope bridges and a restaurant with a roaring fire, one of the largest treehouses in the world. You can have lunch or dinner among the branches.

Alnwick Castle

Next to the garden you can visit Alnwick Castle, the second-largest inhabited castle in England after Windsor, with sumptuous interiors in Italian Renaissance style. Its courtyard was used for the broomstick-flying lessons in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and today broomstick lessons are organised for young fans. The castle has also appeared in Downton Abbey. The castle ticket is separate from the garden ticket.

Practical information

The garden is open all year, with shorter hours in winter; the castle opens from spring to October. Guided tours of the Poison Garden leave at regular intervals. Opening times and prices are published on the official websites.

Getting there

• By train: to Alnmouth on the East Coast Main Line between London and Edinburgh, then bus or taxi (about 10 minutes).
• By car: close to the A1, about 40 minutes from Newcastle.
• By air: Newcastle Airport is about 45 minutes away.

Nearby

• The Northumberland coast with the castles of Bamburgh and Dunstanburgh, and the Farne Islands with their puffins.
• The holy island of Lindisfarne, reached at low tide.
• The town of Alnwick, with the huge second-hand bookshop Barter Books in an old railway station.

Tips

• How long: half a day for the garden, a full day with the castle.
• When to go: April and May for the cherry blossom, June for the roses.
• A tip: book your Poison Garden tour time as soon as you arrive, because on busy days the groups fill up.

Alnwick Garden on the map

Nearby