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Mansion

The Mansion, Wakehurst Place
 

 

Mansion, Exhibition & Stables

The Mansion

People have lived in these Wealden woodlands and valleys since at least the Iron Age and the first recorded owner of what is now Wakehurst Place was a Norman who arrived with William the Conqueror.
Mansion Gallery Exhibition

The present mansion was built in 1590 by Sir Edward Culpeper - a distant relative of Nicholas, the famous herbalist - and retains its imposing Tudor facade. However, the last of the Culpepers sold the estate to pay off gambling debts in 1694, when it was bought by Dennis Lydell, a Royal Navy associate of Samuel Pepys, who enlarged the estate to 3,100 acres in 1748.

The Peytons were resident from 1776 to 1869, when the Dowager Marchioness of Downshire bought the estate and probably started planting some of the large exotic trees, such as the giant redwoods, during her time here.

After Sir William Boord, who owned the estate from 1890 to 1902, it was Gerald Loder, later Lord Wakehurst, who started to develop the gardens. He was a passionate plantsman and helped sponsor many collecting expeditions, particularly to eastern Asia, still the world's richest source of temperate flora. He was keenly interested in Southern Hemisphere plants and built up an outstanding collection from South America, Australia and New Zealand.

On Loder's death, Wakehurst Place was bought by Sir Henry Price who, with his wife, Lady Eve Price, was equally enthusiastic about plants, and in their care the estate matured richly and was widely admired.

In 1963, Sir Henry bequeathed Wakehurst Place, with a generous endowment, to the National Trust. Then, on 1st January 1965, the estate was leased for the benefit of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Wakehurst Place Visitor Information

Wakehurst Place is managed and maintained solely by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and all monies generated from entrance fees and profits from shop and plant sales go towards both its upkeep and the continuation of the scientific work carried out here.

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