A Shakespearean Plot

25th April 2007

CROOK HALL AND GARDENS

Horticulturalists will find drama and romance worthy of the Bard himself in the Shakespeare Garden at Crook Hall, County Durham. Allow us to set the scene...

When William Shakespeare chose Warkworth in Northumberland as one of the settings for Henry IV Part I, he unwittingly established a link with North East England that is still flourishing four hundred years later. Shakespeare seasons are a staple of our theatres, with Newcastle's Theatre Royal, Durham's Gala Theatre and Sunderland's Empire Theatre regularly staging productions of the great romances, tragedies and comedies.

"Here's flowers for you;
Hot lavender, mints, savoury, marjoram;
The marigold that goes to bed wi' th'sun,
And with him rises weeping."
William Shakespeare:
The Winter's Tale, Act IV, Scene IV

What many people don't know, however, is that there's a Midsummer Night's Dream - or indeed a spring morning or winter afternoon one - in a quiet corner of County Durham, in the shape of the Shakespeare Garden at Crook Hall. A beautiful Grade 1 listed medieval manor house, the hall itself is at least 13th-century and, legend has it, boasts its own ghost, but for garden enthusiasts it's the secret garden 'rooms' outside that are the true stars of the show. A true hidden gem, the Shakespeare Garden is devoted mainly to
plants from the Bard's time, including lovage, borage, lemon balm, marigold and meadowsweet. Like his plays, it reveals something exciting in every scene, with secret corners amidst dense foliage and a glorious pergola entwined with honeysuckle and Rambling Rector roses. Many of the species favoured in Elizabethan times were grown as much for cookery and medicine as for pleasure. Marigold flowers, said to comfort the heart, were dried for broth. Borage, with its refreshing cucumber flavour, was widely used steeped in wine to cheer the spirits and also to relieve fevers, sore throats and rheumatism. Lemon balm was believed to strengthen the brain and even prevent baldness. Of the genus Melissa, from the Greek for 'bee', it has always been known to attract these insects and in turn make excellent honey. Fresh from the rejuvenating effect of such fragrance and beauty, you can explore Crook Hall's other treasures: the Secret Walled Garden, Silver and White Garden, maze and Cathedral Garden, with flower beds designed to
represent Durham Cathedral's stained glass windows. Then it's home to dream, or maybe off to the theatre!