Hidden Gems in East Sussex

A new experiment for a day of garden visits in which members bring their own picnic lunch to enjoy whilst visiting two very special private gardens. This day has been organised by Charlotte Maclean, Vice Chair of EBTS UK, who has also kindly invited us to her garden for our lunch break. We begin the day at the Old Rectory in Warbleton, where the garden has been recently developed by Arne Maynard. Our host Lord Barker will guide us round his garden while we enjoy seeing first-hand how this garden has been brilliantly redesigned. The use of large topiary at the entrance to the house is particularly fine and belies its infancy.

Lunch (bring your own picnic) will follow at The Old Rectory in the next-door village of Dallington. Weather permitting we will picnic in the garden, where there will be light snacks and wine.

The afternoon visit will be to the home of Chris and Robin Hutt and is set in the Weald only a mile from the sea. The 18thC house is at the highest point in the garden with views down a steep slope across the countryside. The three-acre garden contains extensive wildflower meadows with mown paths. Near to the house, Ian Kitson has designed a split-level garden with a Corten steel wall and plant supports, herbaceous planting and decking all around an ancient cherry tree. Informally clipped groups of hornbeam, hawthorn, holly, pine and yew are scattered through the garden, their shapes reflecting those of hedgerows and tree canopies in the borrowed landscape beyond the garden. Fairlight End received a 2015 Award from the Sussex Heritage Trust.