spur went to Cuckoo's Nest, where there was a repair yard. Part of the old railway route was re-opened in 1996. Grounds The estate covers an area of about , within which about of parkland and about of formal gardens. These are listed at Grade II* on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The boundaries of the estate generally follow field boundaries but on the east side they follow the line of the River Dee. History In the 17th century, formal gardens were created around the Samwell Hall; these included such features as parterres and canals. However they were costly to maintain, and in the later part of the 18th century fashions changed to favour a more informal type of garden layout. Credit for designing the informal gardens at Eaton Hall has been given to Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Although one of Brown's documents dated 1764 shows that payment was made to him by the estate, it also notes that a plan for the garden had been drawn up by William Emes. From this, Marion Mako concludes that, as Brown was an engineer as well as a landscape gardener, the payment was for an engineering project rather than for landscaping. Emes had been influenced by Brown, although he had not been his pupil. With his clerk of works, Thomas Leggett, Emes worked in the estate for the next 10 years. When Robert Grosvenor (later the 1st Marquess) inherited the estate at the beginning of the 19th century, it had become run-down. The marquess appointed John Webb, a pupil of Emes, to improve the garden and the landscaping. Among Webb's innovations were new terrace walls behind the house, the levelling of Belgrave Avenue and the planting of 130,000 trees along it, and a serpentine lake to the east of the house alongside the River Dee. He also arranged for the construction of greenhouses and a kitchen garden. Fashions changed again, and in the 1820s William Andrews Nesfield was employed to design new parterres. He also built more terracing and a balustraded wall. Statues, stone urns and vases on pedestals were added to the garden. In 1852 the Camellia House was built; this was extended in 1870 to its final size of long, wide, and high. The present kitchen garden was created the same year; this provided the food not only for the hall, but also for Grosvenor House in London.