Why We Should Visit

Arbigland House is a classic Georgian mansion in a beautiful setting, overlooking the Solway Firth and with distant views of the Lake District fells. The 24 acres of garden and woodland that surround the house and its handsome stable block are undergoing sympathetic restoration that involves opening up vistas, clearing away invasive Rhododendron ponticum and bamboo and introducing unusual plants.

Story of the Garden

Arbigland House was built in the 1750s for William Craik, who is credited with revolutionising agricultural practices in Scotland. He had the garden laid out in formal style and planted new and exotic trees. John Paul Jones, founder of the American Navy, was the son his gardener and was born in the cottage on the estate.

During the second half of the 19th century more tree planting took place at Arbigland and from the 1920s onwards many find rhododendrons and azaleas were added to the gardens.

Highlights

The Broad Walk that runs from one third of a mile from the house to the beach is the central point of the garden. In recent years the trees that line the walk have been thinned out in order to open up the view of the Solway and the Cumbrian mountains, while wild flowers are now blooming where invasive species have been cleared away.

When the current owners arrived, the path that leads down the centre of the Walk was buried under almost a metre of fallen leaves. These have since been cleared away.

Don’t Miss

The sunken garden is the site of a much older house and also of the barracks where Italian prisoners of war were housed during WWII. During their internment the prisoners built some of the paths and steps that are still in use today.