Route: Doddington Hall and Gardens
Area: Lincolnshire
Date of walk: 11th April 2018
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 2.0 miles
Weather: Misty and cold
Doddington Hall boasts 400 years of unbroken family ownership, having been built in 1595 and never having been sold. We’ve not visited here before, but had heard about the gardens. This would make a good choice for today’s walk on another foggy day, when a walk in the countryside would have yielded very limited views
We parked in the car park opposite the hall and entered via the gatehouse. The gardens comprise 5 acres, divided into different areas and including a walled garden, a kitchen garden, formal borders and a wild garden. At this early time in the gardening season the wild garden was the star of the show, with a wonderful display of daffodils
We wandered around for an hour or two, following no particular route. The Maps Page simply shows the location of Doddington Hall. For those who wish to stretch their legs a little further there are trails leading into and around the wider estate, details of which can be obtained at the entrance. If the weather hadn’t been so miserable today we’d have followed one of these trails
Despite the conditions it had been a wonderful visit, and I hope we’ll be back later this year to see the garden in a different season
Click on the icon below for a location map
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
Entrance to Doddington Hall - free to members of the Historic Houses Association
Doddington Hall, which has never been sold and has passed through 5 families (having been inherited through the female line on occasions)
3 of the 4 topiary unicorns guarding the house
One of the old espaliered apple trees in the walled kitchen garden
Sweet chestnut trees in the wild garden - they are at least 450 years old and the largest is 35 feet in circumference...
Statue of Shakespeare near the house
A misty view to the pyramid at the end of the Avenue Walk
Daffodils lining the formal paths...
Temple of the Winds in the wild garden...
Daffodils in the wild garden...
Rhododendron about to burst into flower
Wire unicorns sculpture
Turf maze
Crown Imperial lilies...
Hellebore...
Cherry blossom
We walk back through the gatehouse to end a wonderful visit which was full of interest, even at this early stage of the gardening year
