Duncombe Park is a stately home situated one mile south-west of Helmsley, North Yorkshire set within 300 acres of parkland, featuring sweeping grass terraces, towering veteran trees, and classical temples. It has proved a popular filming location for period drama productions including Victoria (S2 & 3, ITV), Parade’s End (BBC One) and feature films The Secret Garden, The Thirteenth Tale and Dad’s Army.
It has been described by historian Christopher Hussey as ‘perhaps the most spectacularly beautiful among English landscape conceptions of the 18th century’. Beside superb views over the Rye valley, visitors will discover woodland walks (including the ‘yew tunnel’), ornamental parterres, and a ‘secret garden’ at the Orangery.
The garden and surrounding parkland is designated a National Nature Reserve for the rare insects and fungi which thrive on the dead and dying limbs of ancient trees. The house is closed to the public, but hosts weddings and events, while Duncombe Park is a home to the National Centre for Birds of Prey, an award-winning visitor attraction which houses the largest collection of birds of prey in the North of England.
