Gardens to visit in Sussex

Chalk cliffs define the coastline of East Sussex, where fossils from the Jurassic period are regularly revealed on the beaches, not least at Beachy Head, site of one of the country’s most famous lighthouses. Inland, the South Downs, rolling chalk hills bounded to the north by a dramatic escarpment, stretch for roughly 70 miles. 

In East Sussex, the Downs have offered inspiration to countless artists. Painter Eric Ravilious captured their bright light and gentle undulations in watercolours such as Cuckmere Haven, depicting the meandering path of the River Cuckmere. Near Firle, the Bloomsbury Group summered at Charleston House, famed for its experimental interiors and garden. Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived nearby at Monk’s House, now a National Trust property.

Pretty towns and villages abound: start at Lewes, where a Norman castle dominates. Nearby is Alfriston, with its charming village green and 14th-century church. Outside it is Follers Manor, the exuberant garden of Ann and Geoff Shaw. The ancient town of Rye provided the setting for EF Benson’s 1931 comic novels Mapp and Lucia, and on its outskirts at Northiam is the famous Great Dixter, where Christopher Lloyd pioneered extraordinary planting arrangements.

Dixter is a gorgeous, highly maintained garden, developed by Christopher Lloyd around a house designed by Lutyens. Full of wonderful surprises, mixed borders and a mishmash of complementing and clashing colours, it’s developed under head gardener Fergus Garrett into an astonishingly rich site for garden biodiversity. It’s a must-see for any gardener in East Sussex.

Near Ticehurst, Pashley Manor is filled with tulips in spring, roses in summer and a colourful display of dahlias in late summer and early autumn. In