A landscape garden of great beauty and historical significance
Sheffield Park and Garden is a landscape garden of great beauty and historical significance. The original design was laid out by Capability Brown in 1775 for the 1st Earl of Sheffield, establishing the four interconnected lakes and the broad natural landscape that remains the garden's defining feature. In the early twentieth century, Arthur Soames acquired the property and made extensive plantings of trees and shrubs — particularly rhododendrons, azaleas and trees selected for their autumn colour — that transformed Brown's landscape into something altogether more richly planted.
The result is a garden that offers exceptional seasonal theatre. In May, the outer lake is ringed with rhododendrons reflected in still water, and the woodland paths are carpeted with bluebells. In October, the same paths are ankle-deep in gold and crimson, and the lakes mirror extraordinary colour. We visit in May, when the azaleas and rhododendrons are at their finest alongside the first flash of early summer planting.
Sheffield Park is also notable as the southern terminus of the Bluebell Railway, England's finest preserved steam railway, which runs north through the Sussex countryside to Horsted Keynes. The combination of great garden and historic railway makes it one of the most completely satisfying days out in southern England.