Burton Agnes Gardens

The gardens at Burton Agnes Hall are extensive and well cared for. The area immediately around the house has lawns, topiary and a formal pond. Tucked away at the south side is an Elizabethan walled garden, containing a vegetable, fruit and herb garden and many areas of colourful flowers and shrubs. There are giant board games and a maze, which I tried navigating and found myself slightly panicky that I couldn't find the way out! The building you can see in the background of the top photo is the elaborate Elizabethan gatehouse.

Burton Agnes has an artist-in-residence scheme, which allows visiting artists the opportunity to stay and work there, and to display their work. These ladies were busy painting in the summerhouse.

The weather was intermittently showery followed by very bright sunshine, so I wasn't very pleased with any of my photos. Summer sun can be just too contrasty, but you just have to make the best of the conditions.

A keen gardener may be able to identify the plant with the huge spikes of blue flowers?
(photo below) I've made a tentative guess at Echium but I may be completely wrong. Some of the spikes were twice my height!