The gardens extend to nearly 5 hectares and are set in more than 150 hectares of parkland, which is stocked with Red and Fallow deer and Highland cattle. The house (which is not open to the public) was built in 1510, and has been the home of the Tollemache family ever since. Of the two gardens, the larger is surrounded by its own moat and a wall built in 1740, and access is by drawbridges which are raised every night. Here are herbaceous borders and planted tunnels and a kitchen garden so tidy and productive as to be a spur to every visitor. The other grounds include a herb and Knot garden containing only plants in cultivation in England before 1750, and a special rose garden within high yew hedges. The whole is graded Grade I by English Heritage.