'The Versailles of the north': Meet the duchess who's created gardens of joy, wonder — and rather a lot of deadly poison

The spectacular modern garden at Alnwick — 25 years this month — has proved an unqualified success. The scale of its layout is astonishing and its plantings are beautiful. Moreover, thanks to the vision and tenacity of its creator, Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, it has transformed the economy of the North-East and given pleasure to visitors from all over the world.

The Duchess was brought up in a gardening family. Her mother was a keen plantswoman who spent as much time as possible in her garden at Kailzie, near Peebles. The then Jane Richard learnt about plants, especially their names and how to grow them, working alongside her mother. When she married Lord Ralph Percy, the younger son of the 10th Duke of Northumberland, he was 22 and she was 21. They had a relatively impecunious start to married life, so she learnt to do everything for herself.

The skills she acquired were invaluable when her bachelor brother-in-law, the 11th Duke, died unexpectedly and her husband had to take on all the responsibilities that went with being the 12th Duke, including managing Alnwick Castle, its collections and the substantial Percy estates.

Back then, in 1995, Alnwick Castle itself was open to the public, but its grand Italianate garden had long since disappeared. The Percys had ‘dug for Victory’ during the Second World War, but after 1950 all signs of cultivation disappeared and the walled garden was put to growing conifers.

When they took on the estate, the Duke said to his wife, in effect: ‘You know about gardens and gardening… what should we do with the old walled garden?’

The Duchess’s response was that it must be an attraction in its own right — and it must be of benefit not only to visitors, but to the people of Alnwick, too. This is the principle that has guided her at every stage of the garden’s development.

Friends who know the Duchess will tell you that she is, above all, an ‘ideas person’ and very soon she saw the potential of the steep hill that adjoins one side of the kitchen garden. Running water — perhaps some sort of waterfall — might be a feature, she thought, and she began to discuss her ideas with garden architects and designers.

None came up with a scheme that matched her vision for the hillside until a Scottish friend — the owner of a famous historic garden — suggested she should look for a European landscape architect. That explains how, after discussions and meetings with three of Europe’s best-known garden architects, she ended up asking the Belgian Jacques Wirtz to take on the design of the Alnwick Garden.

The most memorable feature of Wirtz’s design is the massive cascade that runs down the hillside opposite the entrance to the garden. Its surreal outline, its 21 steps and its squirting spouts and fountains were something of a puzzle to some observers at first, but water offers innumerable possibilities to gardens and gardeners and Alnwick’s Grand Cascade resonates strongly with visitors. Now, it rates alongside the Angel of the North as one of the region’s proudest modern icons.

The old walled garden, 3¾ acres at the top of the cascade, now the Ornamental Garden, is where the horticultural interest lies.The design is formal and the plantings are opulent. Some of the hedges are composed of unusual plants such as dogwoods and crab apples — Malus ‘Red Sentinel’ takes to hard pruning surprisingly well, whether as a hedge or when pleached. Soft fruit, including raspberries, currants and gooseberries, are interplanted with standard roses. Large pots are filled with spring bulbs or summer-flowering agapanthus. Clematis, roses and honeysuckles clamber up elegant pergolas and trellises. Delphiniums and peonies lead the list of handsome herbaceous plants, all displayed in harmonious colour combinations.

The beautiful Rose Garden was another of the original features when the Alnwick Garden opened in 2001. David Austin planted it and it is regularly replenished with improved varieties. The emphasis is upon roses as good garden plants and includes many of Austin’s own latest introductions. A substantial replanting is planned for this winter.

The Garden was a winner right from the start when the Prince of Wales, now The King, offered to become its patron. What few people realised then was the extent to which it would become a major tourist attraction, the new Versailles of the North. In 2002, Country Life pinpointed Alnwick as the best place to live in Britain, but the Duchess remembers that there was high unemployment and economic depression — and that foot-and-mouth disease had pummelled the local farmers in 2001.

The garden, however, became a force for regeneration. In one year alone, the Duchess remembers, 100 farmers and other locals applied for planning permission to turn their houses and outbuildings into B&Bs. Today, more than 200 people work full time for the garden and almost every business in Alnwick itself has benefited directly or indirectly. Local people support the garden enthusiastically, including some 100 volunteers who consider it their garden.

Shortly after its opening, the Percys realised that the garden must develop as an educational charity for the benefit of visitors. Consequently, the entire garden was transferred to a charitable trust in 2003. This means that not a penny passes to the Percys and the Duchess is free to raise funds for further expansion. Much of her work today focuses on fundraising for social and educational activities.

The Poison Garden was a significant addition early in 2005. More than 100 different poisonous plants are grown and displayed behind black gates adorned with skull and crossbones. A sign by the firmly locked entrance warns visitors that ‘These Plants Can Kill’. They include everything from Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade) and foxgloves to laburnum trees, hemlock and the handsome evergreen tree Strychnos nuxvomica, the attractive orange-like fruits of which are the main source of strychnine. The garden has a licence to grow cannabis, coca and opium poppies. All visits are accompanied and children — who are told about the medical uses of plants and the dangers of misuse — love its allure.

Much more followed: the Treehouse — one of the largest in the world — opened in 2004, supported by a copse of mature lime trees. It is an extraordinary eyrie, with suspended walkways and rope bridges with a restaurant at the centre. The Serpent Garden came the following year — eight fascinating stainless-steel water sculptures by William Pye surround a snaking hedge of holly. These are both beautiful and educational, just as grottos and shell houses were in the 18th century.

The Cherry Orchard, which opened in 2008, is a feature of supreme beauty for two or three fleeting weeks in late spring. It occupies an entire hillside and is planted with only one cultivar — 329 trees of ‘Tai-Haku’, the Great White Cherry. It’s the sort of feature that many gardeners dream of creating, but lack the means or the confidence to do so.

In the Roots-and-Shoots Garden (2011), children are taught to sow seeds, plant vegetables and herbs, nurture their crops and harvest their produce. Elderly people with health worries, often the result of loneliness, maintain parts of the garden and are encouraged to join other activities.

The Alnwick Garden is an extraordinary achievement, but the Duchess is not a person who rests on her laurels. Indeed, she is now looking forward to completing the garden. New plantings, better buildings and improved waterworks are all part of the plan. ‘It’s not who you are that matters,’ she says, ‘but what you do for people.’

Find out more at the Alnwick Garden website.

This feature originally appeared in the September 30, 2026, print edition of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.