There are ten wonderful acres of gardens at Levens Hall waiting to be explored and enjoyed. They include the unique collection of ancient and extraordinary topiary characters sculpted from box and yew.

An animal rights activist washes herself with red dye to mimic blood during a protest against the testing of shampoo on animals in Barcelona. April 24, 2012. (Photo by Raul Albaledo/AFP Photo)

Lady Gaga performs at Staples Center on August 11, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

Wang Zeyu, 4, a fee-paying enthusiast of kung fu, practises during a training class at a kung fu school near the Shaolin Temple April 10, 2005 in Dengfeng, Henan Province, China. Zeyu's father sent him to the school from his home in Jiangsu Province, thousands kilometres away from Dengfeng, when he was just 3 years old. And his father must pay 9,800 yuan (US$1195) for one year's tuition at the school, a huge amount for most Chinese. There are more than 80 kung fu schools that line the road from the city of Dengfeng to the Shaolin Temple with hundreds and thousands of young kung-fu lovers from all over the country and beyond studying here. All the schools use the Shaolin name to attract students as the Shaolin Temple is the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu. (Photo by Cancan Chu/Getty Images)

Artists from Cirque Du Soleil: Totem perform at Royal Albert Hall on January 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Danny Martindale/Getty Images)

Crowd members attempt to keep dry with umbrellas and ponchos prior to the 2012 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade on March 3, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)