Burton Constable Hall is inviting visitors to explore The Curiosity Garden, showcasing a rare herbarium collection displayed together in public for the first time in over two centuries
An interior view of the exhibition(Image: Burton Constable Hall)
Burton Constable Hall is inviting visitors to explore The Curiosity Garden – a unique opportunity to view one of its most extraordinary collections assembled together for the first time in more than 200 years. Compiled between the 1740s and 1760s, the Herbarium stands as one of Britain’s largest and most intact surviving collections of its type outside of London.
Meticulously preserved plant specimens, both native and foreign, offer insight into how individuals collected and examined plants during the eighteenth century. The Herbarium captures an era of increasing fascination with botany, when specimens were collected, traded and examined through networks linking collectors, gardeners and correspondents throughout Britain and further afield.
The collection demonstrates how plants were recorded and catalogued, along with the variety of species documented during that period. Central to this story is William Constable, who took over the estate in 1747 and was instrumental in building the collection.
His enthusiasm for plants helped influence both the Herbarium and the broader estate, a heritage subsequently reflected in the parkland’s redesign by Capability Brown during the 1770s. Visitors will experience The Curiosity Garden throughout a sequence of historic rooms within the Hall, including the Blue Room and Chippendale Room, positioning the Herbarium within the setting of the house and its collections.
The exhibition also contributes to the Yorkshire Country House Partnership’s 2026 collective theme – Plants, Trees and the Country House. Across the area, stately homes are showcasing exhibitions and displays that examine the botanical legacy of country estates, from their gardens and parkland to the natural materials and designs featured throughout historic interiors.
As part of the initiative, the complete Herbarium has been digitised, aiding in the preservation of this valuable archive and making it available to a broader audience.
Sarah Burton, curator at Burton Constable Hall, said: “Very few people have seen the Herbarium like this. Although the specimens are over two centuries old, they’ve been preserved with great care, and you can still see the detail in the plants as well as the handwritten notes recorded alongside them, showing how carefully each plant was observed and documented.”
The Curiosity Garden provides a unique opportunity to view a collection that has remained mostly hidden for generations, and to discover how a passion for plants influenced life at Burton Constable Hall.
The collection will be on display until November 1. The Hall opens at 11am with last admission at 3pm.
Did you know you can make Hull Live a preferred source of Hull news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.