For over eight-hundred years, the Strickland family has held the Cumbrian lands on which an impressive castle was built about 750 years ago. Members of the family still live in one of the wings. Sizergh, with its pond, lands, impressive gardens, adorable chickens, conservatory, and stumpery, is that castle.

Under the care of the National Trust, Sizergh is open for tours. We paid the extra quid to have a guided tour of the interior, but toured the gardens on our own.

Sizergh features a stumpery, a garden planted around old tree stumps that make for some artful arrangements. These are just a few.

The rest of the floral gardens include indifying tags—helpful for those of us who have never seen some of these flowers before.

Our favorite on today’s walk was the perfectly named poached egg flower.  We’re sure you can guess which one it is.

Once you’re past the gardens, you find yourself in an orchard. At the back is the chicken coop. We were suprised by one one that wasn’t in the coop, but upon our arrival flew into the coop.

When we emerged from the orchard, we found a delightful rock garden.

At the front of the castle, you’ll find a gorgeous vantage, more flowers, and stairs decorated with wildflowers.

Once we completed our tour of the exterior, it was time to make our way inside. We’ll cover that in Part 2.