Gawsworth Hall Gardens

Fifteenth century Gawsworth was the home of Mary Fitton, the 'Dark Lady' of Shakespeare's sonnets. These romantic associations are echoed in the garden's broad lawns, studded with evergreen trees and shurbs - and formal plantings of roses.

To the south, the house looks out over Medieval parkland enclosed by a crumbling 16th century wall.

The mounds and terraces are almost certainly all that remains of a sizeable formal Elizabethan pleasure garden.

The gardens also contain an open-air theatre with covered grandstand, where plays are performed in the summer.

Open 2nd May to 19th September.