Peover Hall opens gardens and family home in memory of much-loved couple

Peover Hall on the Tatton Estate in Knutsford was the family home of Randle and Juliet Brooks.

The gardens first opened for the National Garden Scheme in 1927 and will do so again this weekend in poignant memory of the couple.

 

Randle died unexpectedly in November 2020 and Juliet lost her second battle against cancer in March 2021.

The Brooks family are keen to celebrate their memory at this year’s National Garden Scheme open weekend.

The garden will be open on Saturday, June 5 and Sunday, June 6, from 2pm to 5pm to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie Hospice UK and the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

 

The hall, closed to visitors throughout 2020, will be open again.

People can look around this historic building, a Grade 2 listed Elizabethan family home dating from 1585.

Three tours will be available at 2pm, 3pm and 4pm.

 

Numbers will be restricted and bookings will need to be made separately at PeoverHall.com.

Over the years £60 million has been donated to cancer charities, including £2.8 million last year from the National Garden Scheme.

 

A spokesman for the Brooks family said: "The family were very grateful for all the help they received to support Juliet to make it possible to stay at her beloved Peover Hall and enjoy its gardens.

"Everyone, together with the Christie and East Cheshire Hospice at Home, was incredibly caring and sensitive through what was a rather heartbreaking period."

As in previous years there will be a plant stall, including many plants grown in the gardens. Visitors are asked to pay by cash due to the lack of broadband.

The formal gardens were designed between 1890 and 1900 and feature a series of 'garden rooms' filled with clipped box, water garden, Romanesque loggia, warm brick walls, unusual doors, secret passageways, beautiful topiary work and walled gardens, C19 dell and rockery, rhododendrons and pleached limes.

 

The grounds of the hall also house working stables, estate cottages and the parish church of St Lawrence which contains two Mainwaring Chapels with beautiful effigies.

The architectural jewel is the Grade I listed Carolean stables built in 1654. Their interior stalls are richly carved and include original Tuscan columns and strap work.

Immediately adjacent to the stables is the attractive Coach House topped with a working bell tower added by Sir Henry Mainwaring in 1764.

During World War II the house was requisitioned for the use of General George Patton of the United States 3rd Army when it was damaged by a fire started by a soldier in 1944.

Later, the house was derelict and has been extensively renovated since the 1960s by the Brooks family.

Due to the changes in the family and Covid restrictions the website PeoverHall.com is currently being updated and will be ready soon to enable bookings.

Visitors must book in advance, there will be no ticket sales at the door.