Gardens and Lake
At one time, the only staff employed in the Gardens were two men with sticks whose job it was to prevent curious cattle from putting their horns through the ground floor windows. Since then the gardens have been altered several times. A painting of the house in 1677 shows an elaborate moat around the house and extensive walled gardens.
The present grounds were designed by the architect W.N. Teulon and date from 1860. More recently, one of England's most prominent garden designers, Dan Pearson, has taken on the redevelopment of the gardens with the aim of lifting the visitors' eyes to the wider landscape with its magnificent and rare collection of trees.
The Round Oval, as the lake is known, was cleaned out and re-filled in 1868. The Summerhouse at the lakeside was bought in 1901 by John Poyntz, Fifth Earl Spencer from Admiralty House gardens, London for the sum of £3.00. This purchase was at the request of Charlotte Spencer who wished to have it erected in the pleasure grounds as a memory of her husband's regime of the admiralty. The Summerhouse was moved to the south of the Round Oval in 1926 where it stands today, dedicated to the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales.
For lovers of the sweet pea first introduced into this country in 1700 the modern waved "Spencer type" is well known. In 1901 it was described as having flowers of exceptional size and of an exquisite shade of pink, which startled the horticultural world when exhibited but the story of its success begins at Althorp. Mr Silas Cole was Head Gardner to the Fifth Earl Spencer, succeeding his Father in that post and between them achieving 33 years of continuous service. In a letter written in 1911, Silas relates the story of the sweet pea.
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