Melbourne Hall

Melbourne Hall stands in the Derbyshire village of Melbourne, a Georgian country house built on land once held by the Bishop of Carlisle in the twelfth century. The present house was partly rebuilt in the early seventeenth century for Sir John Coke and later remodelled in the eighteenth century for Thomas Coke, who created the formal gardens. More than twenty features in the grounds are Grade I listed, including sculpture, fountains and the birdcage arbour. The house was home to two British Prime Ministers: the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, who served from 1835 to 1841, and his descendant the 3rd Viscount, who was Queen Victoria’s first minister. The interiors were redecorated over several campaigns, with work by Joseph Hall, Samuel Franceys and Joseph Pickford. The gardens contain lead and stone sculpture by John Nost, a noted Baroque sculptor who supplied figures and vases for the grounds and chimneypieces for the house. Visitors walk through avenues and a yew tunnel to reach the parterre and basins with fountains. The birdcage arbour, made of wrought iron by Robert Bakewell, was restored in 1958 to its original colours after layers of paint were removed. Statues of Perseus, Mercury and Andromeda stand among seats near the Fountain Pond, and the Tea Rooms open onto terraces linked by steps. The Muniment Room and a barn are also Grade I listed, while walls and bridges carry the garden’s water channel across the landscape.