Birtley Brook Estates

The Birtley estate with its lake and beautiful surroundings has always been an important ingredient in the peaceful setting of the house. The lake is stocked with brown trout and day and season tickets are available for fly-fishing. The woodland has some ancient boundary banks and ditches indicating that there was woodland here for several hundred years. Today a programme of coppice restoration and replanting has resulted in better woodland management and some wood-chip production for the biofuel boiler at Birtley House.

The woods are full of wildlife with deer, foxes and badgers and smaller, unusual, mammals such as dormice and water shrews. Birds are very prolific with nesting buzzards, sparrow hawks and tawny and little owls as well as a wealth of smaller birds. Exciting more recent arrivals include a Barn Owl (the first seen at Birtley for over 50 years) that adopted one of our Owl Boxes in 2008/9 and regular sightings of ravens and red kites. The most dramatic floral glory of the woods is the carpet of bluebells in May. 

The gardens are continually being developed to enhance existing ares and to develop new ideas within the traditional structure. The Rose garden, Secret garden and the 'Long Walk' herbaceous border are a great source of enjoyment for our residents while the extensive Kitchen garden and Orchard provide fresh fruit and vegetables, in addition to an abundant supply of fresh flowers, for Birtley House.