Sales & Lettings
Chesworths Estate Agents 26 North Street, Horsham, RH12 1RQ
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Friday 21.07.2017 thedistrictpost.co.uk
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Blooming great news
Leonardslee Gardens reopening after 7 year closure martin read
Reporter
Local garden lovers, and those from much further afield are thrilled to hear that Leonardslee will be reopening. The gardens closed in 2010, much to the disappointment of an estimated 50,000 visitors a year, including many regulars from the district among others arriving in coaches from distant parts. The ten miles of tranquil paths and walks, string of seven man-made lakes (created to provide water for the local iron industry), stunning rock garden, constructed in 1890, and superb displays of rhododendrons, fragrant azaleas, prize-winning camellias and magnolias - the acid soil being ideally suited to the Himalayan species – thriving in the magnificent 240 acre setting. The bluebell woods amid the steep, sheltered valleys on the estate and a wonderful array of trees are equally breathtaking. From the early daffodils, hundreds of varieties of spring flowering shrubs, through to the summer hydrangeas and wild flowers and the dramatic colours of the indigenous and imported trees in autumn, Leonardslee
fully merits its Grade 1 listing on the register of Historic Parks and Gardens. Closure of the gardens followed the purchase by a mystery buyer, but the estate has recently been sold by receivers to Penny Streeter, owner of the nearby 400 acre Mannings Heath Golf Club and its recently launched 38,000 vine winery. The substantial, stunning Benguela Cove residential wine and sporting complex on South Africa’s Western Cape and four restaurants and a hotel are also in her property portfolio. Before the 19th century Lower Beeding was a largely unoccupied and lawless, the forest reputed to be a meeting place for smugglers. But, it became much more respectable when prosperous families moved into the area allured by the pleasant scenery and captivating views of the South Downs. The Beauclerk family built the first house at Leonardslee in 1803, around which time the gardens were thought to have been laid out. Rebuilt on its present site 80 years later, the Grade 2 Italianate house with spectacular interiors came into the ownership of Sir Edward Loder in 1889, when the estate, including Eastlands Farm in Warninglid Lane was, along with South Lodge, a principal employer in the area.
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