Shuckburgh Hall is one of the few country estates in England that is still privately owned and can be seen across the park from the long drive to Park Farm. The Shuckburgh family first settled on the estate in the 12th Century and the Hall is now lived in by the 14th baronet meaning the family have lived on the estate for over 1000 years. The Shuckburgh baronetcy was originally bestowed on Richard Shuckburgh by Charles 1 after the Battle of Edgehill in 1642. Being one of the oldest privately owned estates in the country it has a wealth of history and local interest.

Park Farm is one of several farms on the estate and it’s approach is quite unique, flanked on one side by an ancient deer park and on the other by rolling ‘ridge and furrow’ grass fields. This is an archaeological feature remaining from the middle ages when it was used as a ploughing method for strip cultivation of fields. Also known as an open field system, this technique was introduced as a way for villagers to share land. The villagers (otherwise known as peasants in those days!) would have rented strips of land from the Shuckburgh family in order to grow their crops. Using an ox and plough, the ridges and troughs (or furrows) were created to increase the surface area for cultivation and to aid drainage and Park Farm has particularly fine examples of this ancient ploughing method dating back to medieval times. 

We are very lucky to live in such a wonderful environment and surrounding the house is a beautiful garden which requires hard work and dedication to maintain so that it looks it’s best for you on your wedding day! Often described as a ‘secret garden’ as it’s tucked away initially out of sight, the garden was originally a grass field. Tim together with his late wife Gwen and the help of a landscape gardener worked on a design converting what was a wild space into what you see today. Over the years the garden has developed and planting changed but the basic design is still the same. Cleverly it is a mix of formal planting around the house moving back towards a more relaxed woodland feel as you approach the avenue of ancient Oak trees separating the house from the farm. Tim claims the garden was designed to be low maintenance but I can assure you that it is anything but! The productive Kitchen Garden was added more recently and many hours are spent replanting, weeding, pruning etc but we get so much pleasure from both living on the farm and sharing the result of our hard labour with others that when we hear all the wonderful compliments it makes it all so worthwhile.