Tatton Park: Mansion, Farm and Gardens

In Brief.

Tatton Park is a substantial estate that was owned for over 400 years by members of the Egerton family. The current neo-classical mansion was built in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and many of the fixtures and fittings date from that period. However, the outdoor spaces are probably more visited than the mansion, and there are extensive and varied gardens, including a Japanese Garden and an arboretum. For younger visitors, there is also the farm, which includes both historic buildings like the mill and a collection of farm animals from rare breeds.

The mansion from the gardens.

What's Here?

Tatton is an impressive estate, and everything comes on a grand scale. I started with a walk round the gardens, where there are airy lawns, many impressive trees inside and outside the arboretum, ornate topiary, a variety of ponds and an extensive Japanese garden.  There is even a compact formal Italian Garden, but the scale of the rest of the garden rather leaves it as a footnote. Although the parkland is outside the gardens, it takes an hour to walk round just the gardens! Energy levels can be restored in the cafe, where there were muffins featuring rhubarb from the estate.

The Japanese garden.

The farm both provides access to a variety of rare breeds, including horses and pigs, and gives an indication as to how the farm operated in practice. This includes the offices of the various staff who kept the show on the road, a mill that produced animal feeds, an enclosure for the pigs, and for completeness, the slaughterhouse. The farm is targeted at a younger audience, and provides access to an adventure play area in the woods.

The mansion itself is also well worth a visit. Lavish though the main rooms are, they seem to have been designed for living in as much as for entertaining or showing off, and include both fine furniture and a pair of Canaletto paintings of Venice. On my weekday visit, there were enthusiastic recently retired guides in many of the rooms keen to point out the better paintings (there are also certainly some worse paintings...) and novelty items (look out for the bath with a built-in heater that pre-dates household plumbing).

Practicalities.

Distance from Manchester Town Hall: 19 miles

Drive Time: 40 minutes

Price: $-$$. The house and gardens are free to National Trust members.

Parking: Parking is paid for on entry.

Food and Drink: There is a substantial courtyard cafe.

Retail Therapy: There are several shops, including a food shop and several souvenir shops associated with the house, gardens and farm.

Child Friendly: The farm is quite explicitly aimed at a younger audience, and there is a substantial and popular play area near the carpark.

Toilets: Yes.

Do it justice in: My visit that included the house, farm and gardens took about 4 hours.

Inside-Outside: 40:60.

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