Clifton Castle Summer Picnic

Our summer picnic this year was at Clifton Castle, with kind permission of Lord and Lady Downshire. After arrival tea/coffee and biscuits we had an introductory talk by Research Group member, Margaret Matthews, who has researched the site before walking down to the River Ure and back. We then had an opportunity to picnic, with strawberries and cream provided by YGT, with time to explore the gardens around the house and the cascade.

The historic designed landscape at Clifton Castle is the vision of one owner, Timothy Hutton, who created a rustic picturesque landscape at the estate he inherited.  Originally the site of a medieval castle next to the river Ure, it provided the ideal opportunity for him to follow the latest fashion for the ‘wild’ picturesque, perhaps inspired by nearby Hackfall and travels in Scotland and the Lake District. He started around 1802 with the construction of a new mansion and other ancillary buildings and then shaped the grounds around them. Most notable were the southern pleasure grounds, which were formed from the existing woodland next to the banks of the river.

By the time he had completed the work in the 1830s, the fashion for such designed landscapes were falling out of favour. While it was still in his ownership until his death in 1863 though, little was changed. His successors also made few alterations and it remains to this day, a good example of a late picturesque designed landscape and one that Timothy Hutton would still recognise.