Volunteers

While I may limit the number of historic homes, cathedrals and museums I visit on a particular trip, I find I have an unlimited capacity for gardens.

So we decided to visit Holkham Hall Gardens. (We skipped touring the house and just went to the gardens.)

I'm sure the house would have been impressive. It was built in the 18th century for the 1st Earl of Leicester. It now belongs to the 8th Earl of Leicester. So it's been in the same family for hundreds of years.

To be truthful, I thought the gardens at Middlethorpe Hall (where we stayed in York) were nicer than the gardens at Holkham Hall. Several of the garden structures were in a shocking state of disrepair. I understand that the cost of maintaining a property of that size and scope must be monumental. And I understand the desire to hang on to your ancestral home even though I have no first hand experience of it.

But I did think it was a bit much that this family charges admission for people to come in and ooh and aah at their home and visit their gardens and they still can't afford to maintain the property properly and apparently are receiving public funds to make restorations.

We did notice that the vegetable garden was fairly extensive and we thought that perhaps they were selling the produce to local restaurants. What we found out just made my little American jaw drop.

We learned that in it's heyday, (Downton Abbey fans will know when this was) about 60 people were employed to work in the gardens which produced all the food consumed by the Lord of the Manor, family and guests. Now (as in 2019) the gardens are tended by roughly 15 volunteers. (Did you get that? Volunteers.)

But is the produce sold to local restaurants or even to local grocers? No. The food produced is consumed by the Lord of the Manor, family and guests. Just like it was back in the day. But now instead of paying the workers - they are volunteers!

And silly me, I thought the feudal system ended in 1660.

But here are some photos of the gardens. (I tried to keep the things that were in a state of disrepair out of the photos. Because they aren't pretty. And gardens should be pretty.)

And just for comparison - here are some photos of the gardens at Middlethorpe Hall. Tell me what you think.