Nymans

Nymans is one of the great gardens of Britain, a place of extraordinary beauty and horticultural richness created over more than a century by three generations of the Messel family around the romantic ruin of a house in the High Weald of West Sussex. The story of Nymans is one of sustained creative passion, aristocratic taste and, ultimately, tragedy transformed into one of England's most visited gardens.

The garden was begun by Ludwig Messel in the 1890s when he purchased the estate and began planting with the ambition and resources of a wealthy Victorian collector. His son Leonard Messel continued and greatly expanded the work, introducing plant-hunting specimens from expeditions to China, Japan and the Americas, and developing the structural framework of the garden with the Arts and Crafts sensibility of his generation. Leonard's daughter, Anne, Countess of Rosse, carried the work forward through the mid-20th century, maintaining the garden's exceptional quality and international reputation.

The house was gutted by a catastrophic fire in 1947, leaving only the outer walls standing. Rather than demolishing the ruins, the family and later the National Trust chose to preserve them, and the dramatic shell of the house — with its empty windows, crumbling stonework and walls colonised by climbing plants — now forms the emotional and visual centrepiece of the garden. Standing within the roofless ruin, with the sky above and the garden beyond, is one of the most powerful experiences available at any English country property.

A surviving wing of the house houses fascinating displays about the Messel family's remarkable cultural legacy. The family's connections extended deep into the artistic and theatrical world of the 20th century — Ludwig Messel's granddaughter through his son Leonard married into the Armstrong-Jones family, and the designer Oliver Messel (Leonard's son) was one of the most celebrated theatrical and interior designers of his generation.

The garden at Nymans encompasses over 30 acres and is divided into distinct character areas: the romantic walled garden with its famous rose garden and herbaceous borders; a sunken garden; topiary garden; heather garden; and extensive woodland walks planted with rhododendrons, camellias and rare trees collected over more than a century. The plant collection is of international significance, including many species discovered on plant-hunting expeditions and cultivated at Nymans for over 100 years.