The house and garden sit within 20 acres of parkland that is part of Capability Brown’s design for great park at Scampston Hall. Much of the planting is scots pine, with magnificent specimen oaks, horse chestnut and beech trees. There is a stream (Blakey Beck) that runs along the boundary of the park, part of the water features by Scampston Hall.
All of this is yours to enjoy, along with the wealth of wildlife it supports – den building, stream dibbling, rabbit stalking (a version of grandmother’s footsteps involving bunnies) and just mooching around can take up whole afternoons.
For the usual (legal) reasons access to the park is at your own risk, and there are a few guidelines:
- Dogs are welcome in the park but must be kept on a lead as there are usually sheep and always rabbits. We don’t mind them chasing the rabbits but a small dog may well get into a warren and getting them out is terrible hard.
- Please keep an eye on your children. Old parkland trees may have loose branches: don’t let the children climb those or they and the tree might be injured! Remember trees can be fallen out of and streams can be fallen into. The stream is deep enough in places for children to get into difficulties and adult supervision is absolutely necessary for anyone wanting a paddle.
- Some of the older trees have a tendency to drop branches – big and small – in high winds. Unlikely in the summer but we don’t recommend leaving anything valuable under them!
- The park is managed for wildlife. All birds nests and eggs are legally protected and shouldn’t be disturbed. There are many different varieties of mushroom in the park and some are poisonous. Unless you are an expert don’t pick them.