Some lovely gardens:
Borde Hill Telephone: 01444 412151
Quoted as being 'one of the country's truly great gardens' by Country Life, Borde Hill is set in 200 acres of spectacular Sussex parkland. Started by Colonel Stephenson Clarke in 1893, everything from an Italian garden, Victorian greenhouses, fishing lakes, woodland walk, picnic area, fantastic views across The Weald and adventure playgrounds makes this a garden for all ages.
Open: 10.00-18.00 (or dusk if earlier) daily inc Christmas Day. Borde Hill Lane, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1XP
Cabbages and Kings Telephone: 01825 830552
Set in spectacular countryside with access to meadow walks, this garden was transformed from a derelict farmyard by Ryl Nowell and has won Chelsea Gold Medals.Open: Apr-Oct Thu-Mon 10.30-17.30 Wilderness Farm, Wilderness Lane, Hadlow Down, East Sussex, TN22 4HU
Leonardslee Gardens Telephone: 01403 891212
240 acres of tranquil sheltered countryside, which includes seven beautiful lakes, Victorian motorcar museum, dolls house exhibition, Clock Tower Restaurant, bonsai exhibition, gift shop and even a number of wallabies, which have lived in parts of the garden for over 100 years.Open: Apr-Oct 09.30-18.00 (closes 20.00 during May. Brighton Road, Lower Beeding
Near Horsham, West Sussex, RH13 6PP
Nymans Garden Telephone: 01444 400321
Owned by the National Trust and spread across 30 acres (12 hectares), planting was started here in 1885 by Ludwig Messel (it was his son who bequeathed the gardens to the National Trust in 1954). Nymans Garden contains a large number of interesting and rare shrubs and flowers, has great views over the surrounding countryside and features a picturesque ruin (the Tudor style manor house, which was built here in 1900, burned down after the Second World War). Times and days vary, you need to check, Staplefield Road, Handcross, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6EB
Parham House and Gardens Telephone: 01903 742021
Carefully restored in the 1920s, this typical 'E' shaped Elizabethan house was built in 1577 for Sir Thomas Palmer, a London merchant. It is located north of the South Downs in a massive deer park. Treasures inside include china, tapestries, furniture and a collection of Elizabethan and Stuart portraits. The grounds included a 4-acre (1.6-hectare) walled garden, orchard, eighteenth-century landscaped garden, lake, brick & turf maze and pleasure pond. Open: Wed, Thu, Sun and bank holiday Mon afternoons Easter to Oct. Parham Park, Parham, Nr. Pulborough, West Sussex, RH20 4HS
Southover Grange Gardens, Lewes Telephone 01273 472555
Built in 1572 using Caen Stone taken from the remains of the Lewes Priory, it is here that John Evelyn the diarist spent most of his childhood. Featured as Mock Beggars' Hall in the novel Ovingdean Grange by Harrison Ainsworth, the building has been extensively restored. The garden is now open to the public and features formal borders, rare trees and winterbourne stream. Southover High St, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 1TP
Wakehurst Place Telephone: 01444 894066
Set in 200 acres and occupied from as far back as the 12th century, Wakehurst Place near Ardingly is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Ornamental plantings, woodlands and formal gardens are set around an Elizabethan mansion containing a gift shop and restaurant, Open: Daily (except Dec 24/25) opens at 10.00. Closes at 18.00 summer and 16.00 winter. Selsfield Road, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN
Some wonderful houses
Arundel Castle Telephone: 01903 883136/882173
Situated in a glorious heavily wooded 1100-acre (45 hectare) park, Arundel Castle's treasures include furniture dating from the 16th century, tapestries, paintings and a magnificent mahogany library from the 18th century. Open: 9am till 5pm, Sunday to Friday. High Street, Arundel, West Sussex, BN18 9LH
Bodiam Castle Telephone: 01580 830436
The ultimate fairytale castle with spiral staircases and medieval battlements, Bodiam Castle also has a museum, souvenir shop and tea room.Open: Daily Feb-Oct, Sat-Sun Nov-Jan. Bodiam Castle, Bodiam, Nr Robertsbridge, East Sussex, TN32 5UA
Herstmonceux Castle Telephone 01323 833816
Although the 15th-century moated castle is not open to the public, the beautiful parkland and superb Elizabethan gardens are. Also available a gift shop, tea room, visitor's centre, children's woodland play area and a nature trail. Open: Daily Easter - Oct, 10.00-18.00, Herstmonceux, Nr Hailsham, East Sussex, BN27 1RN
Petworth House and Park
The vast late 17th-century mansion is set in a beautiful park, landscaped by 'Capability' Brown and immortalised in Turner's paintings. The house contains the Trust's finest and largest collection of pictures, with numerous works by Turner, Van Dyck, Reynolds and Blake, as well as ancient and neo-classical sculpture, fine furniture and carvings by Grinling Gibbons. The Servants' Quarters contain fascinating kitchens (including a splendid copper batterie de cuisine of over 1,000 pieces) and other service rooms.The majestic 700-acre park is internationally important as one of the finest unspoilt examples of an English landscape park designed by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. It is also home to the largest and oldest herd of fallow deer in England. Opening times vary for different parts. Roughly 11-5,closed. Petworth, West Sussex GU28 0AE
Bentley House and Gardens, Wild Fowl & Motor Museum - 01825 840344/840 573
Massive amount to do here. There is a collection of over 1000 swans, geese and ducks from all over the world, and a superb collection of gleaming Veteran, Edwardian and Vintage Cars and Motorcycles. Resident woodcarvers, glass engraver, toy maker and others can be seen at work. Bentley House is ideal for architecture or interior design browsing. It is a Palladian-style mansion restored by Raymond Erith. There is the Philip Rickman Gallery, containing over 150 watercolours by the celebrated Sussex artist. Marvellous formal gardens: yew hedges dividing a series of 'rooms' in a reflection of the house. Relaxing walks around Glyndebourne Wood, a mixture of conifers and broad-leaved trees interspersed with sunny glades which are carpeted with bluebells in May. A new trail has interactive boards about wildlife and woodland management. A children’s adventure playground, gift shop, and café, with home-made food. Miniature trains run on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter to October, and on East Sussex half terms, school holidays and every Sunday in winter (weather permitting).
Wildfowl Reserve, Motor Museum, Bentley House Grounds & Formal Gardens, Gift shop, Indoor Activity, Trail Children's Adventure Area Picnic Area, Licensed Tea Room, Resident Craft Demonstrations, Woodland Walk with Ancient Building, Trail, Small animal section.
Open Summer: Daily from 20 March - 31 October, 10.30am - 5.30pm
Bentley House opens 12noon daily from 1 April to 31 October.
Open Winter: Weekends only + East Sussex school holidays & 1/2 terms10.30am - 4pm.
Closed Christmas Eve/Day. NB Bentley House closed all Winter.
Adult £6.50, £5.50 (£4.50 in winter) Children 3-15; £5.50;OAP/students. Family Ticket (2+3) £21)
Bentley Wildfowl and Motor Museum, Halland, Nr Lewes, BN8 5AF
Groombridge Place Telephone: 01892 861444
There is actually too much at Groombridge to describe. Fabulous, award-winning and amazingly creative gardens featured many times on film TV and in literature. Plus HUGE swings from tall trees, obstacle courses. Canal Boat rides (£1). An enchanted forest! It is endless. No matter what age you are you are bound to be stunned. It’s a bit of a trek, but then so is Everest and people seem to think that is worth it. 45 Minutes from Brighton on the A264 Tunbridge/East Grinstead Road. It is possible to take a Spa Valley steam train from Tunbridge followed by a 10 minute walk! (Need to check on train 01892 5377115)
Open every day march through to November 4th 10am ‘till dusk.
Adults £8.70, Children(3-12)/OAP £7.20. Family ticket (2+2) £29.50 Groombridge Place, Groombridge, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN3 9QG