Lowther Castle visit

On the last day of the Lake District holiday, we visited Lowther Castle, it's very near Penrith and the M6, so ideally situated for a visit if you're traveling in the north. Apart from the name 'Lowther' being prevalent in the Cumbrian region, I was also interested to see what garden designer, Dan Pearson had done in the gardens, having read a piece in Gardens Illustrated about his project there, and as the magazine often does, they had listed his 24 key plants used in the Lowther planting which brings alive the plans.
Lowther Castle has a fascinating history, the website gives the following information about the site:
'One of the oldest arms-bearing families in the country, the Lowthers trace their origins back to Dolfin, descendant of a Viking settler, who arrived here in 1150. It was Dolfin who is said to have named the river Lowth-a (foaming water) – hence the family name'.
Bearing in mind I visited in April, there were some lovely displays of plants, but the perennials in the parterre were only just showing through the ground. It was a beautiful day when we visited, so there are blue skies in evidence:

 Above is a photo of the gatehouse, it looks a bit like a fairytale castle, and below the actual castle as it first comes into view from the car park.

 As soon as we walked through the gate, this fantastic display of spring flowers immediately gave the impression of care taken over presentation and attention to detail

 I also loved this sculpture

 Lowther Castle is set above surrounding countryside, there's a great view of the countryside from the western walk:

 Ferns were unravelling in a shady part of the garden

 The rockery was beautiful with huge numbers of beautiful Primulas

 and trilliums

 more pink and purple Primulas

 below this is a Roman bath with Tim trying to work out what sort of plug it had.

 Here's a view of the castle from the grounds

 This is a photo of the parterre planting, it probably looks fabulous by now

 Below a very old sculpture showing a knight's foot and a coat of arms on his shield

 There was lots of information inside about Lowthe rCastle and its history and plans dan Pearson has for the gardens.

 I like the fact there was a tree situated in the doorway, the photo is taken from inside the castle, as you can see there's planting in the remains of the castle and there's no roof on it, that was taken off to avoid huge costs.

 I couldn't resist adding this print of Lowther Street in Whitehaven. According to information in the castle, 'Whitehaven was, in its day, a jewel of Georgian urban planning, drawn up on a grid-iron pattern. It is thought that the layout of New York was modelled on the town.'