If you’re looking for a backdrop to your romance this year, the stately homes in Cheshire are a perfect location. Words by Jade Wright
Rode Hall
The snowdrops at Rode Hall were a labour of love for Sibella and Randle Wilbraham IV. A talented gardener, Sibella brought the first bulbs into the wild garden, carefully collected from her home in Gresford on the Welsh borders. It was a representation of their love – her flowers surrounding his family home – and almost 200 years on, there are more snowdrops than ever. Walk along paths amid carpets of white flowers on a mile-long route – with options for longer or shorter walks – and see more than 70 varieties of snowdrops. They create a blanket of white in the old wood and wild garden, with more in the borders of the formal Nesfield garden in front of the hall. There’s also a spectacular collection in the two-acre walled kitchen garden and spectacular views down the Colonel’s Walk, where some of the rarest varieties can be seen.
Don’t miss: The chance to buy Rode Hall snowdrops, including many of the more unusual varieties, to plant at home.
Rode Hall, Scholar Green, Cheshire, ST7 3QP, rodehall.co.uk
READ MORE: 6 places to view snowdrops in Cheshire
Lyme Park
Few Cheshire houses are as romantic, grand, as Lyme Hall, famous for its role as Pemberley, Mr Darcy’s home, in the BBC’s ‘90s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Go for a stroll and imagine Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie shocked – and more than a little delighted – by the approach of Colin Firth’s dripping wet Mr Darcy, fresh from the lake.
The house isn’t open at the moment, but the grounds and 1,400 acres of parkland are full of natural beauty, and in February the bare branches offer even better vistas. Head away from the crowds out into the wider estate for walks through woodland and across moorland that takes in spectacular vistas. Stop off at Paddock Cottage and look out across the Cheshire Plain or on a clear day go up to Bowstones where you can see seven counties: Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Clwyd, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Lancashire.
Don’t miss: The most romantic spot is possibly The Lantern. The top of its beautiful sandstone tower once sat above the north archway of the house, before it was moved up on the hill next to the woods in the 1720s, so it could be seen from the eastern side of the house. Legend has it if Lord Newton could see the Lantern clearly from the dining room, it was good enough weather for hunting.
Lyme Park, Disley, Stockport, Cheshire, SK12 2NR, nationaltrust.org.uk/lyme
READ MORE: 5 great walks in and around Lyme Park
Dunham Massey
The formal gardens and classical architecture at this much-loved Cheshire house were once home to a passionate Victorian love affair that shocked polite society. George Harry, 7th Earl of Stamford and Warrington was young, handsome and very eligible. The kind of man Pride and Prejudice’s Mrs Bennet would describe as being very much in want of a wife. But, rather than in the drawing rooms of other country houses, George found his lover riding horses in the circus. Working-class Catherine Cox was glamorous, beautiful and in the eyes of Cheshire society, totally unsuitable. The young earl and countess were ostracised by local gentry to such an extent they left the county and moved to Enville in Staffordshire, taking the family silver with them. These days, the estate is more welcoming to couples of all kinds, and the gardens, park and wider estate are filled with beauty and romance. The house and restaurant are currently closed, but the grounds and garden are open for timed bookings, ensuring plenty of room for social distancing.
Don’t miss: The beautiful fallow deer herd, unusual because it has all four colours – common (tan with white spots fading in winter), menil (tan but with white spots year round), melanistic (almost entirely black or chocolate coloured) and white (a pale sandy colour, turning white with age). So there’s plenty of chance the playful herd will photobomb your selfie with your nearest and dearest.
Dunham Massey, Altrincham, Cheshire, WA14 4SJ, nationaltrust.org.uk/dunham-massey
READ MORE: A video tour exploring the history of the Dunham Massey estate
The gardens at Tatton Park
Tatton is spectacular at any time of year and early spring sees the gardens waking up after their long winter slumber. Take your loved one by the hand and explore the walled kitchen gardens, maze, topiary, rose garden and arboretum. The park is open too, with more than 1000 acres and herds of red and fallow deer roaming free in the ancient Parkland. Keep your eyes out too for rare breed Hebridean and Soay sheep, as well as a rich variety of birds and wildlife.
Don’t miss: The Japanese Gardens. Created by Alan de Tatton in 1910, they are said to be the finest example of a Japanese Garden in Europe. February is a wonderful time to visit, as in lower light it’s a chance to see the lanterns in all shapes and sizes, including the specially shaped snow viewing lanterns, designed to trap as much snow as possible to the beauty of the garden in winter.
Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6QN, tattonpark.org.uk
READ MORE: Knutsford and Tatton Park walk
Little Moreton Hall
Little Moreton Hall became an object of romantic interest among Victorian artists after fashionable author Amelia Edwards set her 1880 novel Lord Brackenbury in the higgledy-piggledy Cheshire house. With its crooked walls and striking timber frame, it was built around 1450 for Richard de Moreton, wealthy Cheshire landowner, with William Moreton adding to the original structure. The hall is currently closed, but the grounds are open and it’s a perfect location for a stroll around the beautifully-manicured gardens, plus a spectacular backdrop for those proposal photos.
Don’t miss: The new orchard, planted with Cheshire varieties of apples and quinces.
Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4SD, nationaltrust.org.uk/little-moreton-hall
READ MORE: Cheshire walk - Astbury, Little Moreton Hall and Brownlow Heath
