The Hobart and Townsend Families
The estate later passed into the Townsend family through marriage, and eventually into the hands of the Earls of Leicester. John Hobart, the 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire, inherited the estate in the 18th century and made significant improvements to the house and gardens.
In the 19th century, the estate came under the ownership of the 2nd Earl of Leicester, who continued to develop the gardens and parklands in the style fashionable at the time. The extensive grounds of Blickling include ancient woodlands, formal gardens, and a large deer park, which remain open to the public today.
The Gardens and Landscape
The grounds of Blickling Hall are as historically significant as the house itself. They showcase a combination of formal gardens, parkland, and ancient woodland, designed and altered over several centuries.
The Formal Gardens
The gardens were originally laid out in the early 17th century, with designs influenced by Renaissance principles of geometry and order. Over time, the gardens evolved, incorporating features such as parterres, terraces, and ornamental ponds.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the gardens were transformed by the influence of the English Landscape Movement, which favored naturalistic designs that mimicked the countryside. Today, visitors can enjoy the juxtaposition of formal and informal garden styles, with colorful flower beds, trimmed hedges, and shaded avenues. shutdown123