This year marks 25 years since head gardeners, husband and wife,
Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain, began the transformation of West Dean
into award-winning gardens, in the wake of the Great Storms of
1987. In the years since 1991, they have revitalised the 19th
century landscape and overseen tremendous changes which have
brought the gardens international respect for both the quality and
variety of horticultural practice.
West Dean is one of the most significant restored gardens open
to the public today. Creatively inspired by its rich heritage and
setting within the South Downs, the 92-acres are brimming with
features to enjoy, including an impressive collection of 13 working
Victorian glasshouses, a 300-foot Edwardian pergola, a heritage
fruit collection in the Walled Garden, a Kitchen Garden, a
Spring and Woodland Garden and occasional surreal fibreglass
tree.
The 49-acre St Roche's
Arboretum is of interest all year round with its fine
collection of trees but is a must-see in late spring with its
abundant display of rhododendrons and azaleas. The 2.5 mile
Parkland walk that links the grounds to the arboretum is a
beautiful circular walk with breathtaking views of the flint house
of West Dean College and the surrounding South Downs landscape.