Future

Something BIG is happening at Harewood! It’s our mission to protect and enhance Harewood House Trust for the benefit of you, our visitors. We are reimagining Harewood.

Since 1986 the Harewood House Trust has managed and cared for this incredible place. A place of welcome and community; of nature and wellbeing, a place for play and a place for making memories. Long before we became a Trust, the Lascelles family recognised the special qualities of Harewood and the importance of sharing them with the many rather than the few – a place for everyone. To achieve this, we are embarking on a transformative journey to reimagine the historic house and its landscape for the 21st century, with exciting changes, significant investment and a bold vision.

Throughout Harewood’s history the place has changed and evolved with the times, sharing the stories of the people who have lived, worked and made memories here. With the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, we are now creating a new chapter.

A place of welcome

Our fabulous team has been welcoming visitors for decades but we want to be able to welcome and engage with visitors from the moment they arrive, for people to feel inspired or to be able to switch off, relax and easily discover all Harewood has to offer.

To support this, we are working with Bauman Lyons Architects, based in Leeds, who have worked on projects including Museum of Making at Derby Silk Mill, Hull Minster and Kiplin Hall to transform our Grade II listed Bakehouse into a light, bright social space that will enable us to provide you with a warm welcome and make better use of this beautiful building, maximising its location next to the car park and adventure playscape.

A modern single-storey extension made from natural and sustainable materials, combined with low energy and renewable solutions for power, heating and ventilation, will link to the original Bakehouse building via an entrance hall where visitors will be able to buy tickets, become a Member or purchase a gift. A new café will take advantage of views across the Pleasure Ground to the Lake. The first stage of Reimagining Harewood was the launch of our new Adventure Playscape in 2025 and this phase will see a bridge linking the Bakehouse terrace with the towers in the playscape which will enable visitors to enjoy a coffee while keeping an eye on their children playing.

The Bakehouse reimagined Artist's concepts for the new welcome centre at the Grade II listed Bakehouse building. — The Bakehouse reimagined - Bauman Lyons Architects

alt="" — Our brand new adventure playscape launched in 2025

A place for community

Located just 7 miles outside Leeds City Centre, Harewood is one of the only country houses of its stature and size to be within such a city location, close to exceptionally diverse communities. We are aware that there are still many barriers for under-served audiences visiting, whether those be financial, cultural, emotional or physical. We are committed to removing these barriers to ensure our rich historic, natural and cultural assets can be experienced by everyone.

To help address this in 2025, we introduced an Access+ ticket that enabled more than 6,000 people to visit for £3 and a Community Access Membership (CAM). Yet we recognise that we need to do more to make Harewood more welcoming and accessible for a wider range of people. Consultation has been vital in the development of this project and to ensuring that our art, heritage and nature is accessible to all.

Our 20+ Community Access Members represent the diversity of Leeds with service users from neurodiverse young people, low socio-economic families, children with disabilities, unpaid carers, people living with Dementia and those with sight and hearing impairments. Many of these service users experience barriers to accessing cultural or heritage experience and access to nature, whether that be due to cost, support needs or just feeling like somewhere like Harewood is not a place for them. Involving some of these groups from the outset will ensure that these participants and their wider networks feel consulted, represented and included and this should encourage them to return. Key to this will be the new role of Curator of Community Voices who will help to bring new voices to Harewood and reflect the different perspectives within our communities through our interpretation, exhibitions and programme. This partnership work will contribute to the permanent interpretation which will be at the centre of the Bakehouse visitor centre which shares Harewood’s history, including its connections to the transatlantic trade in enslaved peoples, not only for those from the global majority, but for all audiences so that they gain a better understanding of what their local heritage is built on and how it impacts our local communities today.

Paper flowers from Harewood in Bloom, created by CAM groups and Volunteers

2025's Halloween Scarecrow Trail, created in conjunction with our CAM groups

A place of nature and wellbeing: Rooted in History – Growing with Nature – Greening our Future

The gardens and wildlife here are already incredibly important to the appeal of Harewood. During the pandemic Harewood provided outdoor experiences and space for those who were shielding or social distancing and since then has taken on an important role as a place of relaxation, reflection and wellbeing for Members and visitors. To build on this success, we have exciting plans to landscape the gardens to the south of the House (including the former Bird Garden) and to reconnect historic pathways from the garden to the lakeside and beyond. We’re not just providing new, contemporary gardens for visitors to enjoy but increasing the biodiversity value of our landscape through planting of species that create excellent habitat for birds, insects and other wildlife which call Harewood home.

Leeds has several areas where there is little or no access to green spaces or opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and its wellbeing and mental health benefits. A major focus of this project is the importance of connecting nature with wellbeing and the importance of looking after our environment. As well as developing and deepening our community partnerships, involvement in this project will give community groups the opportunity to take this greater connection and appreciation for heritage and nature and what they can do to protect it back to their daily lives to share with their friends and families.

All our plans hope to take advantage of new technologies to reduce our carbon footprint as we aim for a net zero carbon future. We’ll also be using our Walled Garden to produce food and to pass on vital skills to the next generation of gardeners and naturalists.

A tall, grey heron with a white neck and yellow eyes stands in the grass by the edge of Harewood Lake.

short-tailed dipper bird with dark brown and a contrasting white chest is perched on a mossy bank at the edge of Harewood Lake.

A young red dee with small, velvet-covered antlers stands alert in tall green grass, with a blurred green forest in the background.

A red kite, a large rust coloured bird of prey, soars against a blue sky

A white mute swan with a curved neck and an orange and black beak, is swimming on calm blue-grey water with gentle ripples. It's reflection glistens on the water below.

A small fluffy reddish brown Highland Cow calf with a light pink nose, peeks out from underneath it's mother on a snowy day on Harewood Estate.

A Greylag Goose in flight over Harewood House. The Greylag Goose is a large, stocky, grey-brown goose native to the UK and Europe, known for its distinctive orange bill, pink legs, and noisy call.

Two male Pheasants bow close to the ground on Harewood Estate. The pheasant in the foreground is in sharp focus, displaying its intricate brown, white, and black patterned body feathers, a white neck ring, a dark green head, and prominent red facial wattles. A second male pheasant is visible in the background, out of focus, behind the first bird.

Pleasure Ground

In 2025 we opened our new Adventure Playscape using natural materials so that it blends with its woodland setting. By relocating the playscape to the west of the Bakehouse we have re-established part of the 18th century Pleasure Ground and this area will be landscaped into a beautiful green open space. Already, thousands of bulbs planted by volunteers have provided colour and scent.

Reimagining Harewood will enhance the area by removing modern interventions which have divided the Pleasure Ground over time. Visitors will be able to experience the landscape between the House, Courtyard and the Bakehouse as they would have done in the 18th century when it was an open space with sweeping lawns, shrubs and trees, and views across the historic landscape.

The car park will be improved to reduce its visual and environmental impact and provide EV-friendly car, coach and cycle parking, as well as better accessible parking provision.

New Adventure Playscape

Designed with inclusivity at its core, the new Adventure Playscape at Harewood invites children of all ages and abilities to play side by side in a space that celebrates imagination, movement and discovery. With an access slide, sensory-rich low-level equipment, and an access swing, every child is empowered to join the fun. We’ve worked closely with Leeds City Council’s Accessibility Officer to thoughtfully shape an environment that welcomes children with visual impairments, ensuring every detail sparks joy, curiosity, and confidence. This is play without barriers, where every child can feel free, fearless, and fully included.

40,000 bulbs were hand planted planted to bring life back to the Pleasure Grounds

South Garden

An important part of our vision is to create a new garden with all year-round interest and a focus on texture, scent, and playful interactivity. The South Garden, located on the site of the former exotic bird garden, will open up historic views and vistas and add exciting new layers of engagement. We are working with The Landscape Agency in partnership with award-winning garden designer and broadcaster, Matthew Wilson, to sensitively restore and reimagine this area to create a place of sensory delight, inclusive design and environmental resilience.

It’s fantastic to be working on this prestigious and important project. Harewood House is a much loved part of Yorkshire’s heritage with national and international significance, so to be able to contribute to the reframing of part of the landscape is a real privilege, and along with my colleagues at The Landscape Agency is a challenge we relish.”
Matthew Wilson

South Garden

The South Garden provides an opportunity to create a new chapter in the story of Harewood and enhance the special qualities of the garden and immediate landscape and to create gardens with sustainability, accessibility, visitor experience, heritage and beauty at their heart.

The Reimagined South Garden will link the Pleasure Ground to the Lakeside. The vision for this Garden includes the creation of three distinct but interconnected horticultural ‘events’ that play to the strengths of the landscape whilst nurturing a diversity of plant and animal life. Each event will evolve with the seasons.

Contemporary flower meadow

Inspired by Harewood’s historic parterre, this modern meadow blends bright perennials, airy grasses and topiary in novel quirky shapes – a contemporary homage to the Charles Barry parterre. Visitors can take time out to enjoy the historic views over the lake, while children play hide and seek amongst the planting. Planting will attract vast numbers of insect pollinators, which will contribute to the food chains essential for supporting the natural biodiversity of the South Garden and surrounding area – already home to a rich variety of wildlife.

Japanese Acer Glade

A Japanese Acer glade will extend through the woodland to the west to create a beautiful, tranquil space, alive with rich reds, oranges and limes and ensure a riot of autumnal colour. Once the glade is established, visitors will be able to wander beneath the canopies to experience cool dappled shade in summer and blazing colour in autumn.

Raised Walkway

An elevated boardwalk will pass over swathes of colourful wetland planting and a network of ponds, building on existing ponds and the presence of a natural spring and providing visitors the opportunity to get up-close views of dragonflies, amphibians and wildflowers.

These three elements will be anchored by an extension to the Courtyard Terrace to maximise the new vistas for visitors and provide space to relax and reflect while enjoying the commanding views south over the lake to the Walled Garden and the high woods and hills beyond – an important feature of the landscape at Harewood which has been enjoyed by visitors for centuries.

The Gardens Reimagined - the Landscape Agency

The South Garden bought back to glory - the Landscape Agency

A place for play and to make memories

Harewood is the kind of place where memories are made. Where people come together to mark family occasions, socialise and have fun. A place full of adventure and exploration. For recharging your batteries and escaping for a while. In addition to the natural and inclusive Adventure Playscape which opened in 2025, we will feature playful interventions throughout the South Garden, ensuring that our grounds provide layered opportunities to engage and play, while connecting with the natural environment. With a new Art of Nature trail linking the Playscape to Sebastian Cox’s ‘sylvascope’ with its treehouse and shelter, opportunities to become immersed in the natural environment will be plentiful. Whether exploring the woodland and taking part in nature activities, braving the zip wire or relaxing in the ‘chill out’ zone in the woodland, opportunities to play in nature or learn about the importance of biodiversity will feature across the site.

Children enjoying the terrace - Photo by Kippa Matthews

A group of six people are sitting and smiling on a wooden playground climbing structure outdoors. There are two adults—a man and a woman—and four children of different ages. They appear relaxed and happy, posing together in a park-like setting with trees, a wooden fence, and a stone building in the background. — Families enjoying the new adventure playscape

Reimagining Harewood will encourage a more diverse range of people to experience and engage with our heritage, improve understanding of Harewood’s history, enhance and heal our historic landscape, and support Harewood’s long term financial and environmental sustainability, both securing our long-term future and ensuring we are truly a place for the many rather than the few.

The development phase will run for approximately 18 months, during which we will continue to refine plans and secure additional funding for this transformational project, with the aim of a full completion by 2030, marking 7 years in the making.

How you can you help?

We cannot achieve these ambitions alone and need the support and help of volunteers, members, stakeholders and funders to deliver the full project. We are delighted to announce that the National Lottery Heritage Fund has already committed significant support to the development of this project but we still have an ambitious target to reach. If you’d like to know more about how you can support this project, we’d love to hear from you.

Donate Today, Protect Tomorrow

As a charity, we depend on your support to keep the magic of Harewood alive. Each year we need to generate more than £3.5 million to protect and develop the House, Gardens and Grounds and ensure they are accessible to everyone. Donate now to help us protect this special place for future generations.