Trifter

MANY people consider Durham to be a county ravaged by industry and covered with pitheaps. However it does have many beautiful gardens, some of which have existed for centuries.

The Riverbanks at Durham City provide a number of nice walks and form a backdrop to the cathedral. Medieval gardens at Crook Hall Manor were originally sown with medicinal plants. They have been converted into a secret walled garden. A maze, a Shakespearean Garden, cathedral garden, silver and white garden and a moat pool

Durham University Botanic Garden with its greenhouses and labelled exhibits has been developing since 1970

Old Durham Gardens have the remains of a terraced garden that was first established in 1630 and now has an orchard, flowerbeds and an 18th Century Gentry Garden

Houghall gardens are in the grounds of the horticultural college and have a tufa rock garden

Only one family has owned Croxdale Hall, which has a 9 acre walled garden, since 1402

Pockerley Manor at Beamish has a parterre garden, orchard and vegetable garden, based on designs from 1820

A picturesque pleasure garden was laid out through the steep sided Castle Eden Dene National Nature reserve, near Peterlee during the mid 18th Century

The present owner of Eggleston hall, near Bernard Castle has developed gardens within the framework of an older historical garden

Grounds at the Bowes Museum were designed as a public park with woodland in the mid 19th Century with a parterre garden being laid out in 1987

Sir Thomas Robinson designed the dramatic landscaped gardens at Rokeby Park, near Bowes

Volunteers have restored much of the 18th Century Pleasure Gardens, near Sedgefield though some work remains to be done

Auckland Castle Park has evolved from a medieval deer park with a series of stock or fish ponds and is the home of the Bishop of Durham

Whitworth Hall, which has become an hotel still has deer grazing in its landscape. There is also a vineyard in the grounds and coarse fishing is on offer

A collection of bamboos and rhododendrons mark the edges of an artificial lake at Bedburn Hall. The conservatory displays a variety of exotics

The medieval deer park at Raby Castle was developed into a landscaped park during the 18th Century. A ha-ha separates the park from a grassed terrace

A walled garden at the Durham Dales Centre in Stanhope has a gazebo that is approached along a yew hedged path. The centre also has a traditional Dales Cottage Garden

The Barnard Castle rotary Club created a sensory garden with complete disabled access in the medieval castle during the late 1990s

Barningham House, which has been owned by the Milbanks since 1690 is surrounded by 5 acres of garden and 60 acres of woodland. There is a series of curved terraces leading down to the River Tees. It also has a rock garden with waterfalls that was laid out in the 1920s

Despite its industrial and mining heritage, Co Durham remains a beautiful county with many fine gardens that are well worth visiting