Sir Charles Isham, 10th Baronet is credited with beginning the tradition of garden gnomes in the United Kingdom when he introduced a number of terracotta figures from Germany in the 1840s.

[1] In 1568 John Isham, a wealthy wool merchant, built a manor house on the Lamport Estate.

In 1655 he commissioned John Webb, a pupil of Inigo Jones, to design a large two-story home.

The gates on the main road date from 1824 and were designed by Henry Hakewill[2] In 1842 further major rebuilding of the south east front was completed, and later Sir Charles Isham commissioned the building of a new façade with porch to the north-west front, which is now the distinctive main entrance to the Hall.

[2] By about 1950 the house had considerably deteriorated, and the then owner Sir Gyles Isham undertook major renovation works and allowed the ground floor to be opened to the public in 1974.

[3] The hall trust released an official apology, explaining it was meant as a showcase for amateur musicians.

[4][5] Charles Isham inherited Lamport Hall at about the age of 26 in 1846 when his elder brother Justinian died.

This rockwork is the great feature of the gardening at Lamport, and is a striking evidence of Sir Charles Isham's fine taste and wonderful patience.

The whole is his own handiwork, and has occupied a period of two and twenty years to bring it to its present high perfection.

A stunted individual that refuses to make free growth is just the kind of plant that is sought.