Photo: Helmingham Hall by Chris Holifield, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
About this place
The Tollemache family has been at Helmingham since 1487, and the moated Tudor hall that stands today in Suffolk was completed in 1510.
The estate has remained in the same family ever since, giving it one of the longer continuous family histories of any private house in England.
The gardens are regularly cited among the finest privately owned examples in the country.
The walled kitchen garden, divided by herbaceous borders of considerable scale, is the centrepiece of any visit.
The drawbridges over the moat are raised every night, as they have been for centuries.
Plan your visit
Gardens open May to September; check the official website for exact days and times.