A former royal gardener has taken the reins at Holker Hall.
Matthew Murgatroyd has taken over as head gardener at the venue near Cartmel, fresh from his previous role as deputy head of gardens at Highgrove, the private residence of King Charles and the Queen Consort.
He spent 12 years at Highgrove and arrived at Holker at the end of last season and is in charge of the estate’s 25 acre garden, developed by the Cavendish family since the 1600s.
He said: “What’s really exciting for me is that Holker is a spring garden and I’m getting to see what’s coming up, and the bulbs popping up everywhere. The Rhododendrons and Magnolias will soon be coming into flower. It’s going to start with a bang.
Matthew, originally from Levens, volunteered in the gardens at Levens Hall as a schoolboy where he went on to complete his apprenticeship. After a stint at Sizergh Castle he was offered a post as gardener at Highgrove where he worked his way up the ranks to deputy head of gardens.
Throughout his 12 years at Highgrove, he regularly met and worked closely with King Charles. Matthew has a keen eye for topiary, a skill he originally learned at Levens Hall, but finetuned while working at Highgrove as well as other royal residences including Birkhall on the Balmoral estate and Clarence House in London.
He hopes to refurbish Holker’s cascade and has already overseen the planting of an avenue of mature whitebeam trees.
He says: “Whitebeams are a signature plant for Holker. It will be exciting to see them come into leaf; they have lovely silvery foliage and clusters of creamy white flowers in spring.
“Holker is a garden where people are free to roam around, there aren’t the restrictions you find elsewhere. It is such a magnificent garden in spring, this is the time to come and explore.”
Fran Horne, former museum and tour manager at Manchester United, is the new head of visitor services at Holker.
She said: “We are really enjoying seeing people and welcoming them back after what feels like a long winter.
“We will concentrate on what Holker is really good at, which is looking after visitors, great food and drink, a wonderful place and lots to entertain the family.”
Fran moved to Cartmel eight years ago when she was co-owner of Cartmel Cheeses. She had previously worked at the renowned artisan cheese business Neal’s Yard Dairy at London’s Borough Market.
In 2019 she was racing and leisure operations manager at Cartmel Racecourse. Then she joined Manchester United as museum, tour and red café manager. She was contacted by Holker Hall offering her new post.
She said: “I would have been crazy not to take it. It was lovely to come back. Holker is special. The landscape is amazing, and it has a lovely welcoming and friendly atmosphere that we want to extend to everyone. I want to make people feel we are here for them.”
New initiatives include the Wild Goat Festival run by sports legend Steve Cram, with family fun, trail runs, cycle routes, music and food and camping on the estate. It will take place from August 11 to August 13 with athletes Paula Radcliffe, Chris Thompson and Steve Backley attending.
