Tatton Park, Stockport, England

The site was originally a deer park, which dated from 1290. A new house was built in 1716 and Humphry Repton redesigned the park during the 18th century. It was during this time that the walled garden and first glasshouses were created.

The first formal garden to be created was 'Charlottes Lawn'. It was designed by Lewis Wyatt in 1814. Other gardens included the Italian garden designed by Joseph Paxton at the front of the house and the rose garden which was created in 1913. 

In 1958 the last remaining family member bequeathed the estate to the National Trust. In 1960 a lease was drawn up with Cheshire County Council.  The Council continue to manage and finance the site on behalf of the National Trust. Since the 1960s the Council and the Tatton Park Trust have systematically restored various parts of the gardens including the walled garden and glasshouses and the Japanese garden. 

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.  

CHRONOLOGY OF HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

In 1598 Tatton was bought by Sir Thomas Egerton, Lord Chancellor of England, created Viscount Brackley by James I. His grandson Thomas, the second Earl of Bridgewater, settled Tatton on his third son Thomas, although not until the time of Thomas's son John Egerton (1679-1724) did the family reside here, in a new house built in the first quarter of the 18th century. John's son and heir died in 1738, leaving the family fortunes much depleted. In 1758 however the enormous fortune of Samuel Hill, the brother of John Egerton's wife Elizabeth, passed to Samuel (d 1780), their second son. It was that legacy which provided the wherewithal for the later 18th century rebuilding of Tatton. Most of the work was done for William Egerton (d 1806) and his son Wilbraham (d 1856). In 1791 Humphry Repton (1752-1818) advised on landscaping the park. Wilbraham Egerton was succeeded by his son William (d 1883); he, like his father and Samuel Egerton, served as MP, and in 1859 was created Baron Egerton of Tatton. His heir was his son Wilbraham, the second Baron, on whose death in 1909 Tatton passed to his younger brother Alan de Tatton Egerton (d 1920), under whom the Japanese garden was created. On the death of his son Maurice, the fourth Baron, the Barony of Egerton became extinct and in 1958 Tatton passed to the National Trust. It is now (1997) financed and managed by Cheshire County Council on behalf of the National Trust.