Temple Sowerby: Gardens, Woodland and History

Temple Sowerby combines distinctive garden culture, an unusual woodland area and several traces of a long village history. This creates a varied mix for planning your trip: you can spend a day around Acorn Bank, walk through The Moss or explore the village’s historic buildings and features. When looking for a holiday cottage, it is therefore worth first considering which of these focuses should shape your trip.

Acorn Bank: Garden, Mill and a Path from the Village

The garden at Acorn Bank contains more than 275 herb varieties. This unusual diversity makes the garden a worthwhile destination for anyone who appreciates plants, gardens and peaceful discoveries. Acorn Bank also offers a historic insight into craftsmanship and technology: the present buildings of Acorn Bank Mill, together with the associated weir, date from the late 18th or early 19th century. The buildings retain machinery from the mid-19th century.

A public footpath connects Temple Sowerby and Acorn Bank over approximately 1 mile. Take this approximate distance into account when planning your day. Anyone looking for a holiday cottage in Temple Sowerby can plan a stay that combines a garden and mill experience with a walk, without choosing the same type of destination for every outing.

The Moss: Wet Woodland with Aquatic Plants

The Moss, an important woodland area, lies on the eastern side of Temple Sowerby. It is wet and marshy and contains many species of aquatic plants. This makes the landscape distinctly different from a classic garden visit. When choosing your day trips, this means you can choose between the cultivated plant collections at Acorn Bank and a damp woodland landscape characterised by aquatic plants.

A footpath runs through The Moss. It can be accessed from Lower Green between Mickle Bower and Moss Gate or opposite Red Brows on the old "A66". These access points help you incorporate the outing into your plans for the village. The route is particularly interesting if you want not only to view a landscape but also to cross it on foot.

Historic Features in the Village

There are also points of interest for historical discovery within the village itself. St James Church stands at the edge of Temple Sowerby’s main village green. Temple Sowerby’s listed maypole may stand on the site of an earlier cross; its wrought-iron weather vane is dated 1891. The cautious tradition surrounding the possible earlier location and the clearly dated detail of the weather vane give the structure its own historical depth.

Sowerby Manor is another important station in the history of the village. It was transferred to the Knights Templar around 1228. After their dissolution in 1312, it passed to Robert de Clifford, who transferred it to the Knights Hospitaller in 1323. This sequence shows how ownership changed between 1228 and 1323. If you would like to combine cultural impressions with nature experiences, the garden, woodland, church, maypole and manor can offer different approaches to the history of Temple Sowerby.

Which Location Suits Your Trip Idea?

Families can take different interests into account: while Acorn Bank’s garden can be explored through its variety of herbs, The Moss offers a wet woodland landscape with aquatic plants. Those with a stronger interest in history can focus on the mill with its preserved machinery, St James Church and the traditions surrounding the maypole and manor. This allows you to choose your holiday cottage based on your preferred mix of landscape, activity and culture.

If you would also like to compare other places, you can find Storth, Greystoke, Bampton, Oulton, Crook, Carlisle, Great Asby and St Bees here.

For the higher-level travel overview: Cumbria.