Levens Hall

Levens Hall circa 1880.
Levens Hall and the topiary in 1833 when the estate was the seat of the Hon. Colonel Fulke-Greville Howard.

Levens Hall is a manor house in the Kent valley, near Kendal, Cumbria, Northern England.

History

The first house on the site was a pele tower built by the Redman family in around 1350. Much of the present building dates from the Elizabethan era, when the Bellingham family extended the house. The Bellinghams, who were responsible for the fine panelling and plasterwork in the main rooms, sold the house and estate in 1689 to Colonel James Grahme, or Graham, Keeper of the Privy Purse to King James II, who made a number of additions to the house in the late 17th century. His son Henry Graham was a knight of the shire for Westmorland.

Further additions were made in the early 19th century.

Levens is now owned by the Bagot family and is open to the public. The small collection of steam road vehicles includes several traction engines which are usually steamed on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

Supernatural activity

Levens Hall was reportedly haunted by a Grey Lady[1] and people have claimed to have seen the ghost of a black dog who inhabits the stairs and an amicable lady in pink.

Gardens

Topiary at Levens Hall

Levens has a celebrated and large topiary garden, which was first created by the French gardener Guillaume Beaumont.[2] Beaumont also planned the tree planting in the deer park, now inhabited by black fallow deer and Bagot goats.

The park and gardens laid out by Beaumont between 1689 and 1712 have survived remarkably intact. They have been described as retaining "almost all of the essential elements of the completed scheme as shown on maps of the park and gardens of 1730".[3]

References

  1. ↑ 'Haunted Buildings Common in Britain - "Land of Ghosts"', The Windsor Star, 1 September 1962, p. 26.
  2. ↑  Stephen, Leslie; Lee, Sidney, eds. (1890). "Graham, James (1649-1730)". Dictionary of National Biography. 22. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "Levens (1000667)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
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Coordinates: 54°15′32″N 2°46′35″W / 54.2590°N 2.7764°W / 54.2590; -2.7764

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