GREAT GARDENS OF SUSSEX – A HISTORY OF WAKEHURST, HIGH BEECHES, BORDE HILL, NYMANS AND LEONARDSLEE

The first account of why Sussex has so many exceptional gardens has just been published. Entitled ‘Great Gardens of Sussex – an historical journey’, the booklet written by Dr Katy Brown, garden historian and lecturer, covers the history, development, owners, gardeners and plant collections of five gardens of world class importance. The foreword is by gardening expert Roy Lancaster.

 

 

Wakehurst, High Beeches, Borde Hill, Nymans and Leonardslee comprise the Great Gardens of Sussex and all are in mid-Sussex, less than 15 minutes drive from each other. As Dr Brown says, ”The gardens are distinguished by their designs and outstanding plant and tree collections.” Developed during the late nineteenth century, they are in what is known as the ‘Sussex Style’ – a blend of naturalistic planting utilising many rare and unusual plants.

The booklet contains fascinating information about the people who have been most intimately involved in the evolution of these five masterpieces of garden design and the strong family connections, friendships and rivalries which have resulted in this unique collection of outstanding gardens. The booklet can be purchased at the gardens and is priced at £2.50.

Roy Lancaster writes “I cannot now recall the number of occasions when alone or with gardening friends or students, in car or coach, I have made the journey from my home in Hampshire to the High Weald of Sussex to visit the gardens featured in this account. In time, this journey, via Petersfield and Petworth, I came to refer to as the Gardens Route. The gardens themselves became The Famous Five and for very good reason given their histories, special features and most importantly their rich plant collections.

“Conveniently close to one another, as the crow flies, I can think of nowhere else in the temperate regions, lest it be in Cornwall, where you can find so many notable gardens in an area of comparable size. Given their numerous and varied attractions, any two of these gardens will provide more than enough to fill an eventful and enjoyable day while the keen or adventurous gardener or plantsman will find in any one garden enough to occupy a whole day and a long one at that, especially at the height of the flowering season. There are many aspects to a great garden aside from the obvious ones of design and planting. Most important, from a visitor’s point of view, is the physical history and the often untold stories of the men and women who made them and worked in them. The Famous Five offer a wealth of stories from a glorious past to an exciting and challenging future.

“Congratulations then to Katy Brown whose carefully researched and timely account has brought the various threads of their individual histories together for our enlightenment and pleasure.”

Katy Brown writes, “One reason why Sussex boasts so many great gardens is that the fertile acid soil and high rainfall of the High Weald provide the ideal climatic conditions for experimentation with non-native plants and shrubs. Add to this, sheltered positions and varying micro-climates across estates and one can see the area as a veritable paradise for gardeners.” She believes that the ‘Sussex Style’ was the indirect result of the expansion of the railways in the Victorian period, which made Sussex an ideal place for a country estate.

The importance of plant-hunting in the development of these magnificent gardens cannot be over-estimated as plants previously unknown in this country began to arrive from China, Australasia, South East Asia, North and South America, the Himalayas, Russia and Alaska. All the garden owners supported plant-hunting expeditions and Harold Comber, son of the head gardener at Nymans, became a notable plant hunter in his own right. At High Beeches, Anne Boscawen and her husband continued the tradition, making expeditions to Nepal and Bhutan and Tony Schilling, who ran Wakehurst Place from 1967–91, was a leading plant hunter in the Himalayas.

Owners enriched their collections by buying from great nurseries such as James Veitch and Co. and A. Bee and Co. Owners and their expert head gardeners also engaged in experimentation and propagation. William Robinson who bought Gravetye Manor in 1884 with his interest in naturalistic design was a major influence.

Leonard Messel of Nymans and Harold Comber his head gardener were leading figures in the gardening world, cultivating many rare foreign plants and exhibiting at RHS shows. As well as winning prizes at the RHS – often with hybrids raised at Nymans, such as the well-known Eucryphia ‘Nymansay’ – from 1927 onwards Leonard and Comber were closely involved in the Rhododendron Society

The Loder family was central in the development of the Sussex gardens - three of the gardens were in their ownership. Sir Robert Loder bought High Beeches in 1847. In 1876 his eldest son, Edmund bought Leonardslee and Wakehurst was bought by Gerald W. Erskine Loder, 1st Baron Wakehurst and MP for Brighton in 1903.

Sir Edmund travelled to Sweden, Finland, Russia, India, the Andamans, Burma, Java, China, Japan and the USA. He was a key figure in the development of Rhododendrons, collecting species from the Himalayas and China and crossing them (hybrids don’t flower for 6–15 years). His greatest achievement is the Rhododendron Loderi group, colourful varieties which are now in many gardens across the country.

High Beeches made its mark nationally as early as the 1860s with prize winning exhibits in horticultural shows. One story concerns an exhibit at the Crystal Palace when High Beeches head gardener, Mr King competed against the Royal Gardens at Windsor. A telegram stated “King first, Queen second”!

Colonel Giles looked after High Beeches for 60 years, until 1966. His horse, Spion Kop won The Derby in June 1920 as a 100/6 outsider. The Times racing correspondent wrote “The only imperfection in a ‘perfect day’ was the defeat of the favourite and the success of a comparatively unconsidered horse in the greatest race in the world”. The clock on the tower above the Coach House is a legacy of the triumph.

High Beeches was one of the gardens to benefit from the closing-down of James Veitch and Co. in 1914. This nursery financed Ernest Wilson’s plant-hunting expedition to China in 1899 and its impact on British gardening was immense. By the time it closed it had introduced 1,281 plants into cultivation. Two truckloads of plants came to High Beeches from the nursery including a specimen of the famous Davidia involucrata or handkerchief tree. As with the other Sussex gardens, some of the plants were bred on site, particularly by A.W. Mansfield, who came to High Beeches as head gardener in the 1920s. Mansfield was skilled in making rhododendron crosses, the best known being ‘Sarita Loder’.

Borde Hill, an estate of some 200 acres of park and woodland, was bought by Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke in 1893. He was described as the “greatest amateur all-rounder in the gardening world of the twentieth century”. He continued developing and planting the gardens up to immediately before the Second World War, starting with a ha-ha, an azalea ring and many exotic trees and shrubs. The Colonel also bred probably the best known of all camellias, the pink flowered Camellia x williamsii ‘Donation’.

The garden owners have been honoured by the RHS. The highest award is the Victorian Medal of Honour, given to those who have made outstanding contributions to horticulture. It was awarded to Lord Wakehurst, Colonel Stephenson R. Clarke and Leonard Messel. In 1967 Sir Giles Loder gained the medal and a few years later his wife Marie was also honoured.

James Comber head gardener at Nymans was awarded the Victorian Medal in 1936. In 1930 he was made an Associate of Honour. This was established in 1929 for ‘persons who had rendered distinguished service to horticulture whilst employed in gardens, nurseries or seed establishments’. A.W. Coates won it in 1931, he worked at Wakehurst for 27 years and W. Fleming, head gardener at Borde Hill won it in 1957, R.J. Wallis at Wakehurst won it in 1956 and H. Whitner, head gardener at Leonardslee won it in 1952.

James Comber was still attending the Chelsea Flower Show in 1952 at the age of 86 and was described by the Daily Mail as “a tall, upright man with snow-white hair who has been gardening since he was 12”, with the nickname ‘trees and shrubs’. He was still going to RHS Shows every year to judge the flowering shrubs.

In 1963 Wakehurst was bequeathed to the National Trust. The Trust leased the gardens to Kew, which has made them a renowned centre of scientific research, most visibly with the creation of the Millennium Seed Bank. At Nymans Leonard Messell also bequeathed his estate to the National Trust. High Beeches was bought by the Boscawens in 1966. They had heard High Beeches described as the most beautiful garden in England. The Bray/Boscawen’s continue the tradition of exhibiting at RHS shows, gaining a gold medal for a display of trees and shrubs in1979. At Borde Hill Andrewjohn Stephenson Clarke and his wife Eleni have added a Rose Garden a Mediterranean Garden and an Italian garden designed by Robin Williams. Borde Hill also has the largest collection of ‘Champion’ trees in a private collection in the British Isles. At Nymans under head gardener, Ed Ikin, a programme of reconstruction is under way to restore some of the garden’s original features. The link between Wakehurst and Kew puts the garden at the heart of scientific research.

Leonardslee is currently closed to the public but all the other gardens welcome visitors.

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For more information, photographs about the gardens or a copy of the booklet please contact;

High Beeches Garden; Sarah Bray 01444 400589, gardens@highbeeches.com
www.highbeeches.com

Wakehurst; David Hardman 01444 894050/66, wakehurst@kew.org
www.kew.org

Borde Hill, Sam Bryan, 01444 884121, bordehill.pr@btinternet.com
www.bordehill.co.uk

Nyman’s; Romily Meredith, 01444 405250,
romily.meredith@nationaltrust.or.uk
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nymans


High Beeches Gardens, High Beeches Lane, Handcross, West Sussex, RH17 6HQ
Wakehurst, Ardingly, near Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TN
Borde Hill Garden, Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1XP
Nyman’s Garden, Handcross, near West Sussex, RH17 6EB

30.08.11