The Grounds

The magnificent landscape you see at Harewood today is an 18th century one, largely the creation of England’s most famous landscape gardener, Lancelot “Capability” Brown. Edwin Lascelles had already created the Lake by damming the stream, and Brown transformed the fields and pasture into a majestic pleasure ground.  He stocked the plantations with thousands of trees and shifted many tons of earth into gently undulating parkland. You can still see the views from the House and enjoy the vistas as you follow the Lakeside Walk or explore the many miles of public footpaths and bridleways on the Harewood Estate.

But Harewood’s landscape has a history that pre-dates Capability Brown by many centuries.

On the distant hill, seen from the Terrace, stands a large and solitary rock bearing an ancient ‘cup and ring’ mark the meaning of which is still a topic of scholarly debate.

Harewood Castle, visible from the Harrogate Road and currently accessible only on pre-booked and accompanied tours, was built in the mid-12th century and occupied till the 16th. When JMW Turner visited Harewood in 1797, he painted the picturesque ruin. The Castle was recently made safe with the help of a grant from English Heritage.

While Harewood House was being built, Edwin Lascelles and his family lived in Gawthorpe Hall, a large Elizabethan manor house that stood between the House and the Stables. Recent archaeological research has placed its exact site and you can see its outline, marked out by straw bales on the grass, as you look from the Terrace towards the Lake. When Harewood House was completed, Gawthorpe was razed to the ground.

There has been a church at Harewood on the site of the present All Saints' Church since 1116.In the 15th century the building was altered and rebuilt, and then in the late 18th and mid-19th centuries both Edwin Lascelles and the Victorians attempted to 'modernise' the structure.

More recent additions to Harewood’s landscape include the three large silver domes close to the House, and the Adventure Playground thronging with children, especially during the school holidays.