The Quarry Garden is a dramatic sheltered garden created out of the quarry from which the stone was extracted in the early 19th century to build the Hall, Castle and grounds. They are now in the care of English Heritage, who restored the Quarry Garden in the mid-1990s to reveal the full height of the quarry cliffs and the monumental rock faces, in line with their original 1830s concept of ‘Awesome Nature’. (That was from the blurb on English Heritage website, not quite sure people in the 1800’s were using ‘awesome’ as a word. Especially not in Northumberland where they speak a kind of English/Viking language so you only make out 1 in 3 words. Anyhoo, I digress…. )
Inspired by Sir Charles Monck’s travels, the Quarry Garden has its own microclimate which means all sorts of exotic plants grow there. Sophie and I love walking through it, there is so much to point our cameras at.
So today’s post is our walk through the Quarry Garden to get to the Castle, and we’ll have another look at it on our way back from the castle too.

Next time we’ll be at the Castle so stay tooned!
All pictures are embiggenable by clickerating on them.
I love these places. I think this may have been covered on Gardener’s World, it looks familiar.
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I never tire of visiting there, cheers Denzil.
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This ain’t Indonesia? You sure?
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Haha yes, the weather is never that warm!
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What a fascinating garden….we have something like that giant rhubarb here, apparently a native of one of the sub-antarctic islands. I don’t think it is edible 😉
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No I suppose not, they didn’t have rhubarb pie and custard on the cafe menu anyway 😊
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It looks lovely, even without the flowers.
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Will be going back in rhododendron season! Cheers April.
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Well, I think it looks awesome. Even if that makes me sound like a tourist.
Not a fan of rhubarb pie. But rhubarb muffins are the greatest things ever.
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Not a fan of rhubarb in anything! Cheers Alex.
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I’ll bet I could make you some rhubarb muffins that would change your mind! I’m not a big rhubarb eater either, but there are exceptions.
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I’ve never seen them in the shops here but I’d try anything once!
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I’ve never seen them in shops either. My mom made them though and I have the recipe. You’ve got to eat them hot out of the oven anyway.
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Sounds good!
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Lovely light in these pics. I can’t honestly say they look like rhodedendrons, but I don’t have a better idea. I think you’re right, people in the 1800’s didn’t say awesome, they said ‘amazeballs.’
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Haha of course they did.
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I really like that garden. I would much sooner have that behind the house than a flat lawn and some shrubs. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Me too! Though the neighbours might complain!
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Isnt it fab?Ta yet again for sharing your places with us…also love rocks me…clickerating! 😀
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They are the rockiest of rocks, love it there!
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That garden is fascinating….reminds me of Lud’s Church – a natural rock cleft in the moorlands here. What a great place but you’ll need lots of custard for that Brazilian rhubarb
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Haha no rhubarb for me! 🙂
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Fabulous! The ‘stairway to nowhere’ must lead to a secret door. You should try to find it next time.
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I’ve been up them many times, no secret door so far!
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I like quarries. They are very picturesque, whether new and so showing the raw stone or older like this and having all that growing stuff (sorry my brain isn’t quite in gear yet and so struggling this morning).
I like the topmost picture the most. The roots growing down just show that even stone isn’t impervious 😀
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In a couple of weeks I’ll post the ones I tookk on the way back, huge roots cracking the rock!
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Oh nice!
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What a beautiful, fascinating place. For me, stone has a way of capturing me. These gardens seem to have a unique combination of natural and planned. Thanks for capturing and sharing this with us!
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Cheers Frank!
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Wow! Thank you for the tour and gorgeous photos.
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Thanks for visiting Jennie!
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My pleasure!
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It’s lovely, isn’t it? Especially when the rhodies come out.
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Yes, Belsay and Cragside are great for them!
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🤗💕
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What a wonderful place to visit! I love the old stone and the old, established trees & plants; and that stairway! Your photos are gorgeous! Thank you for taking us all along!
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Cheers Connie, will be at the castle next time 😊
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I can hardly wait! 🙂
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A piece of Brazil in such a Northern place, I would think it was only possible in greenhouses. I feel the same when I walk around the 19th century train stations built by Englishmen in Peru. A nice post, fragglerocking : )
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Looks very pleasant. A wonderful re-purposing of the space.
✨🙏🕉☀🌙⚖🪔🕊♾🈚☯🌍🐲🙋♂️
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Cheers Graham.
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The quarry garden looks like a fun place to explore and chill out in. Nice shots.
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Cheers Stevie.
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Such a lush green! 🙂
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Wow Fraggle, what a mystical and mysterious place, you captured it beautifully, I’m completely enchanted. Can’t wait to see more on your way back! Hugs, C
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Cheers Cheryl!
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This is a “digital picture” question so I don’t know if that’s your bailiwick or not but you were the first person that popped to mind.
When uploading photos, is there a difference between jpg and png in terms noticeable quality? I’m talking about something in the 700x1000px dimension, not a massive 4K one. The size comparison is quite different, 400K vs 1300K, but just wonder if the picture quality is noticeable. With my diabetic eyes I can’t tell a difference.
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Looks atmospheric; I need to go. I’ve even seen the signs!
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It’s a grand day out Mike!
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