Tour Overview
Kent and Sussex are home to some of the finest gardens in the country and well deserve a tour of their own to be enjoyed to the full. Even if you have visited some of these properties before, such is their allure that you can return again and again, just as you would re-read your favourite novel. First-time visitors will be bowled over by the sheer quality and pedigree of these gardens, which epitomise that indefinable but much-imitated essence of the English country garden.
We start with Lullingstone Castle, home to the innovative World Garden of Plants, followed by Great Comp, a plantsman’s delight filled with rare and beautiful shrubs. Nymans Garden offers an outstanding collection of plants in a theatrical setting and is twinned with Leonardslee, famous for its wonderfully natural woodland. A mouth-watering double-bill follows as we visit stunning Sissinghurst, surely the most-copied flower garden in the world, and Great Dixter, where Edwin Lutyen’s original design was embellished by the late Christopher Lloyd. The spectacular gardens of Hever Castle complete a heavenly tour.
We will be based on the outskirts of Sevenoaks at the Best Western Donnington Manor Hotel, a 15th century extended manor house with leisure facilities.
Day 1
We depart from our pick-up points in London and Gatwick (overnight
accommodation available in both London or at the 4-star Chequers Hotel,
near Gatwick before or after the tour – ask for a quotation) and head
towards Kent and our first visit, the magnificent Lullingstone Castle.
A historic family mansion dating back to the time of Domesday,
frequented by Henry VIII and Queen Anne, the manor house and garden are
set in the beautiful Darent Valley. The garden was designed by
horticulturist Tom Hart Dyke, a modern day plant hunter who follows in
the traditions of plant hunters who used to risk their lives and limbs
in pursuit of fantastic blooms and plants, during his nine month kidnap
at the hands of the Columbian Guerrillas in 2000. On his release he
created the World Garden of Plants, which continues to grow and build
each year adding rare and important botanical plants to its collection.
From here we continue to Great Comp Garden – a beautiful 7 acre garden
with many beautiful and rare shrubs, perennials and other hardy
plants. This Kent garden is a plantsman’s haven. The year starts with
Helleborus, followed by Magnolias, Rhododendrons and Azaleas, then the
remainder of the year follows with rare and exotic shrubs and perennial
plants such as the huge collection of Salvias. There are areas of
formal and informal plantings linked with meandering grass paths and
ruins homing in on an Italian Garden.
We continue to our hotel, the 3-star Best Western Donnington Manor, an
extended 15th century manor house on the outskirts of Sevenoaks. The
public rooms in the original building have a wealth of character and
the purpose-built bedrooms are well equipped. The hotel also has
leisure facilities.
Dinner will be served in the evening.
Day 2
This morning, after breakfast, we will set off for Nymans Garden, an outstanding plant collection in an inspirational setting. This theatrical garden design created by the Messel family, is one of the finest gardens in Sussex and still retains much of the personality of the family who created it. There are many rare and exotic plants combined with a pinetum, walled garden, Italian garden and woodland walks.
Our next visit is to one of England’s most spectacular gardens, Leonardslee, near Horsham. Famous for its rhododendrons, azaleas and wonderful natural woodland setting, it was created by Sir Edmund Loder. The garden is extensive, set in some 240 acres of woodland with lakes and streams running through the middle of the valley. The Great Storm of 1987 which devastated so many trees in south and east England actually did the garden a favour in destroying many of the old and weak trees and resulting in parts of the garden becoming more accessible and allowing
re-planting. Look out for the wallabies who have lived in the garden for over 100 years and are used as an unusual technique for grass cutting!
We return to the hotel in time for dinner.
Day 3
This morning after breakfast, we visit the magnificently manicured gardens of Sissinghurst. This famous garden was created by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson from 1930 onwards and became the most admired English Garden of its time. Few great gardens live up to their reputations so effortlessly as this. Sissinghurst is a large connoisseurs’ garden consisting of a series of small romantic areas enclosed by the surviving parts of an Elizabethan mansion. It never disappoints its visitors, it has the power of enchantment, but it is also an unending source of inspiration for all gardeners. Sissinghurst is surely as close to gardening perfection as you can get, and it continues to be one of the most copies flower gardens in the world.
We continue to another classic English Country Garden – Great Dixter. The distinguished garden writer Christopher Lloyd (who died in January 2006 at the aged of 84) was the genius behind Great Dixter, with its timbered 15th century house. Restored by Edwin Lutyens who also planned the garden, Mr Lloyd has firmly put his lively stamp on it. A recent experiment involved installing a summer tropical garden rich in bold shapes and brilliant colours. No gardener could come to Great Dixter without making discoveries and rekindling a zest for gardening. We return to the hotel in time for dinner.
Day 4
This morning after breakfast we will leave the hotel and head for our final visit - the gardens of Hever Castle. Once the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, the spectacular gardens were laid out between 1904 and 1908 by Joseph Cheal and Son, turning marshland into the spectacular gardens you see today. One of the most magnificent areas of the gardens is the Italian Garden, which was designed to display William Waldorf Astor’s collection of Italian sculpture and includes the colourful walled Rose Garden with its 3000 plants. Other features of the gardens include Half Moon Pond, the Cascade Rockery, the cool and shady grottoes, the formal loggia fountain based on the Trevi Fountain in Rome, and the more informal Two Sisters Pond. You can stroll through the Tudor Garden, Rhododendron Walk and along Anne Boleyn’s Walk with its collection of trees planted over 100 years ago. More recent additions to the garden by the present owners include the Millennium Fountain on Sixteen Acre Island, forming a feature at the far end of the more informal area of the gardens. The 110 metre herbaceous border has been reinstated, and there is also a Yew Maze.
We will return to your original pick-up points late afternoon/early evening.
3 nights dinner, bed and full breakfast at the 3-star Best Western Donnington Manor Hotel. All rooms have private facilities
Comfortable coaching throughout
Visit to the gardens of Lullingstone Castle, Great Comp, Nymans, Leonardslee, Sissinghurst, Great Dixter and Hever Castle
Services of a Brightwater Holidays tour manager
Single room supplement £60.00
Insurance 2011 prices to be confirmed
Overnight bed & breakfast accommodation before or after the tour available on request in
London or at the 4 star Menzies Chequers Hotel, Gatwick – ask for a quotation
London - Coach bay on Tothill St, between St James's Park Underground (Broadway Entrance)& Westminster Abbey
Gatwick – Thistle Hotel, Brighton Road, Horley
All pick-up-points are subject to minimum numbers
We also have a 4-day package by air from Edinburgh from £445 per person – please ask for separate brochure