A garden three generations of one family built on the High Weald, with the burnt-out shell of their house standing in the middle of it
Open to visitorsa National Trust place — check opening times and admission before you go
The Messel family started planting here in the 1890s and kept improving the garden for three generations, filling it with rare trees, magnolias, camellias and rhododendrons that do well on the acid soil of the High Weald. Then in February 1947 the house caught fire and most of it was lost overnight. Rather than clear the site, the family left the Gothic shell standing, and the romantic ruin has since become part of the garden’s character, with a few surviving rooms furnished more or less as they were.
The garden is the reason to come, and it has something going for it in every season: spring blossom, high-summer borders, autumn colour in the wooded pinetum. There’s a lot of walking to be had beyond the walls too. This stretch of West Sussex is unusually thick with gardens, so you could pair a visit with The High Beeches or Leonardslee a few minutes away, and the High Weald Landscape Trail runs close by if you fancy a longer wander.
Nymans is a paid National Trust site with set opening hours; the garden stays open across more of the year than the house, so check the day’s times before you travel.
