As the weather starts to cool, gardens are transitioning into a vibrant colour palette of yellow, orange and brown. It’s a season of wrapping up but with a sense of exploring and if you want to wonder amongst some of the joyous gardens, English Heritage sites are the perfect places to visit.

 

You can also save on your autumn visit with up to 25 per cent off gift and annual memberships with English Heritage here.

Here’s their pick of the most impressive gardens of the autumn season.

Audley End, Essex.

Pull on your jacket and pack your umbrella and witness the seasonal changes at one of the charity’s most beautiful gardens. See ripening apples in the Kitchen Gardens, stately cedars in the parkland and catch the last of the display of flowers across the estate. 

Explore the pond garden and parterre which should be alive with colour through the autumn until the first frost beckons the start of the bedding turnover. Check it out here.

 

Belsay Hall, Castle and Gardens, Northumberland.

Described as looking like an autumnal paradise, as you walk through the garden, soak up the beautiful seasonal changes including Acer trees, vines, Persian ironwood trees (Parrotia persica) and tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). The majestic katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) is always a striking feature because of its magnificent colours and scent of candy floss (yes, really!). You might even be fortunate enough to spot a red squirrel as it prepares for winter. Be inspired on the English Heritage website.

 

Home of Charles Darwin - Down House, Kent.

During the autumn look out for the stunning scarlet red Virginia creeper that engulfs the house, contrasting with the purple tones of the Boston ivy. The view from the sandwalk (with its veteran beech trees planted by Darwin) across the valley to 'The Big Woods' is also unmissable at this time of year. The main highlight at Down is the spectacular autumn colour in the valley across from Great Pucklands' Meadow, a place Darwin and his family loved.  Explore the restored greenhouses, where Darwin studied plant growth, pollination and variation. Take a peek to inspire you here.

Beautiful Kenwood provides quite an autumnal spectacle (Image: English Heritage)

 

Kenwood, London.

Enjoy beautifully landscaped parkland, with some 6,000 trees and take a walk and enjoy this annual highlight: a rich, autumnal spectacle. Gardeners tend to the rhododendrons and other flowering shrubs in the flower garden in autumn, so you can see the progress over the coming months. In the kitchen garden, look out for the red leaves of the Vitis coignetiae scrambling along the shed roof and into the plane tree. Here you can also admire the firey Acer palmatum trees. As you walk around the Pasture Ground, look out for the sweet gum with vibrant tinges of purples, yellows and oranges in its leaves. Another charming feature is the Virginia creepers that climb elegantly along the front of Mansion Cottage. Check out Kenwood via this link to the English Heritage website.

 

Brodsworth Hall and Gardens, Yorkshire.

A joy in all seasons, but autumn at Brodsworth is an especially exciting time of year. Through the Beech Lawns you can admire the autumn crocuses popping up now that they have had their cut for the year. And as the sun lowers in the sky, its rays gently filter through the beech trees to highlight the colour of the leaves. The Fern Dell explodes with autumnal colour as the 44 different shades of green of the deciduous ferns breakdown. Euonymus alatus, also known as 'burning bush', are dotted around the gardens. They're native to China, Japan and Korea and turn bright red in autumn. A wander through the Rose Dell is a delight as it comes to life in autumn. Here our gardeners have allowed the shrub roses to form hips which provide food for the birds while adding a pop of bright colour in autumnal shades of bright red and orange. Arrange a visit to via the English Heritage website.

 

Will you be discovering one of the gardens above or perhaps checking out gardens closer to home?

Remember, there are numerous other English Heritage sites you can visit all year round and to save on your visit, we’ve teamed up with English Heritage to offer 25 per cent off gift and annual memberships which gives the chance to see its sites in every season.

What’s more English Heritage membership allows every member to take up to six children under the age of 18 within the family group into any of the English Heritage properties at no extra charge.

Want to find out more? Simply click here.

Use code AFFNW25 at the checkout.

Offer ends: December 31, 2026.

T&C’s: For use on new membership purchases only. Annual direct debit only.