Developed by John Bateman, the accomplished horticulturist and landowner who inherited money from his father who became rich from coal and steel. He moved to Biddulph Grange about 1840, from Knypersley Hall. the gardens were created with help from his friend Edward William Cooke.
Bateman was president of the North Staffordshire Field Society, and served on the Royal Horticultural Society's Plant Exploration Committee and wanted to develop the gardens to display his wide selection of plants. In 1861 Bateman and his sons, moved to Kensington in London and Biddulph Grange was sold to Robert Heath in 1871. In 1896, the house burnt down and the architect Thomas Bower rebuilt it.
The house served as a children's hospital from 1923 until the 1960s; known first as the North Staffordshire Cripple's Hospital" and later as the "Biddulph Grange Orthopaedic Hospital.
The 15 acre garden became badly run-down and neglected during this period and was was divided into the hospital with the house and its gardens and the uncultivated remainder of Biddulph Grange's land became the Biddulph Grange Country Park.

In 1988 the National Trust took ownership of the property and its gardens, which have now been nearly fully restored.