The land at Easton originally belonged to the Cistercian Abbots of Vaudey Abbey and has been owned and managed by the Cholmeley family since 1561. Montague Cholmeley, MP for Grantham rebuilt the Hall in 1805 and was created a baronet the following year. Sir Montague’s son, also Sir Montagu, updated the Hall and laid out the gardens in 1840s. His grandson, Sir Hugh Arthur Henry Cholmeley made changes to the terrace gardens.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Estate was featured in the pages of Country Life magazine and President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent part of his honeymoon at Easton. Roosevelt described the estate as: ‘A dream of Nirvana… almost too good to be true.’ During the Second World War, the Hall and its grounds were requisitioned by the Army and the Hall was demolished in the early 1950s.

For years the garden stood untended and impenetrable, over-run with sycamore, elder, blackberry bushes and ragwort. Any traces of the original garden were hidden from view. Many felt it was a challenge too daunting to accept but Ursula Cholmeley saw it as an invitation.

Drawing on a shared knowledge of gardening, love of a challenge, eagerness to grow, and influences near and far, Ursula and the Easton team of gardeners got stuck in. Stone enclosures around a mediaeval manor house were discovered along with melon pits, bedding and borders of the Victorian era.

Ferocious brambles were tamed to allow for yew tunnels, rose gardens, borders, shrubberies, meadows and more. As the gardens grew, so too did the possibilities.

Decades later, and through endless hard work and discovery, Easton Walled Gardens has been nurtured back to life, a place that sings with the seasons for everyone to enjoy.