Photo-a-Day  (Sunday, 29th July, 2012)

Haigh Hall is a historic country house in Haigh, Greater Manchester, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building. The hall, built between 1827 and 1840 by James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, replaced an ancient manor house and was his family's home until 1947 when it was sold to Wigan Council. The hall is managed as a conference centre and wedding venue by Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust on behalf of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan.
Formal gardens established at the old hall in the early 18th century were illustrated in engravings by Knyff and Kip in 1707. A 1750 painting attributed to Joseph Highmore showed modifications to the layout including a "Gothic eye-catcher", the "Observatory" made entirely of cannel, on the hill crest to the east. Terraces, including a parterre with geometrical divisions extending outwards from the hall on the hillside to the south and west, were swept away by 19th-century landscaping carried out by the 8th Earl. Today the hall has a walled garden and woodland walks in the plantations which were part of the landscaping and extensive tree planting from the mid-19th century. Pathways were laid out in the plantations to provide work during the 1860s cotton famine. The plantations are primarily of beech, but with a proportion of oak, horse chestnut, sycamore, ash and lime. There are sweet chestnut, scots pine, hazel, yew and holly. The park has the largest area of woodland in Greater Manchester
(Wikipedia)
Grand weather this year, Ron, for growing flowers etc.and grass !!
Do you know this family?

What a lovely photo.

Precious! A lovely picture; really heartwarming.

Soon be playing in the park with our first grandson does not seem that long ago we took our sons to the park.Time flies.

I have several happy memories of this place. The best is of a wonderful open air performance of Midsummer Night's Dream by the Little Theatre.

I love The Walled Garden....A very special place.

Whos that in the bushes??

franky

You need a good idin

That what Franky said Ann21 there someone idin.

This looks like Wigan park to me... not Haigh Hall