Award-winning Garden

Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Garden

The garden has had an historical make-over. New additions include  Roman and Jacobean themed features and planting. The historical planting includes nectar rich native plants to encourage insects and bring in wildlife to the area. The Roman planting, includes a variety of herbs, which will be used for teaching Roman cookery and making Roman medicines.
 
The Heritage Garden project was funded through the Museum Development Fund, part of  'Renaissance in the Regions', a national scheme to transform England's regional museums.

There are three main areas of the garden that can be seen:
 
The ‘Jacobean’ Garden

Tullie House was given a facelift in 1689. The garden in front of the main façade has been recently remodelled to reflect this. The planting contains modern varieties of plants that were grown in gardens in England in the 17th Century.
 
The ‘Roman’ Garden

Across the path from the Jacobean Garden is the Roman Garden. The plants here are modern varieties of those that would have been familiar to the Romans nearly 2000 years ago. Also on view are a number of stone objects that come from Roman sites in the area.
 
The Large Garden

Around the corner from the Jacobean and Roman gardens is the main garden area. The line of the Roman road to the south gate of the Roman fort is marked with a line of golden elms as well as a series of stone drain slabs. The plants include a Catalpa or Indian Ben Tree as well as Hostas and Rhododendrons.
 
To one side of this garden is part of the cast iron bridge erected by Thomas Telford over the River Esk at Metal Bridge, north of Carlisle. There is also a collection of pieces of stone from various archaeological sites in the area. These include a coffin from the medieval hospital of St. Nicholas, south of the city.