Garden to visit Woolbeding is a modern masterpiece, tucked away in a quiet corner of West Sussex
This peaceful, tucked-away garden in West Sussex is a modern masterpiece. Melissa Mabbitt explores
Woolbeding is a hidden gem among gardens. It has been owned by the National Trust for many decades but only recently opened to the public, in 2011. Unlike most of the Trust’s historic gardens, this one is a modern creation, a work of art that has evolved over the past 50 years. Open just two days a week in spring and summer, it retains a quiet, exclusive atmosphere that’s quite thrilling to explore. From 1973 it was home to the Hon Simon Sainsbury, great grandson of the supermarket founder, and his partner Stewart Grimshaw. Together they engaged the best garden designers from all over the world to create a fantasy space in a contemporary style. Simon died in 2006 but Stewart continues to live at Woolbeding and is deeply involved with the garden’s continuing evolution. The 26-acre plot is divided into a series of formal garden rooms, each packed with romantic planting, rustic follies or contemporary features. The designs explore the relatively modern notion of ‘the enchanted garden’, and are filled with twirling topiary and magical hidden nooks. Its relaxed formality fits surprisingly well with its countryside setting, using planting combinations that could have been lifted straight from a show garden. Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winners Isabel and Julian Bannerman were among the designers who have left their mark here. They’ve brought some historical-fantasy style to the water gardens, adding a ruined chapel, a hermit’s hut and a river god statue, complete with