The country estate managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, set in the
Wakehurst is the country estate managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, set in the High Weald of West Sussex. Its 500 acres include ornamental gardens around the Elizabethan mansion, a spectacular wetland garden, extensive woodland and the Loder Valley Nature Reserve — and, housed in a purpose-built facility at the heart of the estate, the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, the world's largest ex situ wild plant conservation project.
The ornamental gardens at Wakehurst have a very different character from those at Kew itself. Here the scale is grander, the setting wilder, and the collections more focused on the scientific mission of plant conservation. The Southern Hemisphere garden, the Rock Walk, the Himalayan Glade and the Bloomer's Valley water garden each represent distinct horticultural traditions and climate zones.
For garden visitors, Wakehurst offers the pleasure of a botanic garden that feels genuinely close to the natural world — the woodland paths, the stream-fed valley and the open parkland all give a sense of space and informality that contrasts with the more formal atmosphere of Kew. It is a place to wander at length, and a morning here rarely feels like enough.