The Leasowes lies within an urban environment, around 1km north-east of the town of Halesowen in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.
Set in 154 acres, on a west-facing slope, it is the site of an Historic 18th garden established by the Poet William Shenstone. It is also a Nature Reserve, as the site now provides a rich habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna, having never been tainted by intensive farming and industrialisation.
The Leasowes presents a mix of mature woodland and meadows, bounded in the west by an 18-metre high embankment, across which runs the now disused Dudley No 2 (Lapal) canal, which opened in 1796.
An 18-hole golf course occupies the central part of the site, the club house occupying an 18th century ‘Queen Anne’ style country building.
Streams, fed from natural springs, flow through two valleys containing a series of picturesque pools and cascades, the most famous of which is the north valley with its Virgils Grove and High Cascade.
It is sufficiently secluded from its urban location, that it provides peace and tranquility for walkers, wild life and nature photographers, and groups\families who just want to enjoy the great outdoors without travelling too far afield.
The environment supports many species of mammals (including bats), insects, arachnids and invertebrates. Birdlife is also in abundance, including Ducks, Kingfishers, Woodpeckers, Buzzards and many, many more.
Located only 200 metres from the Golf Club House is a Walled Garden. Built around the same time as the house, this is now separately owned and managed by the Halesowen Abbey Trust.
Thanks to its “nationally important assemblage of grassland fungi and species-rich neutral grasslands,” The Leasowes has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is also a site within the Black Country UNESCO Global Geopark. GEOSITE: 26
This site has been created by the Friends of The Leasowes group. Established in 1993, we are the oldest Friends Group in Dudley MBC.
We act as volunteer guardians to The Leasowes, a Grade I historic landscape, created by William Shenstone from 1743 – 1763.