Leonardslee - Going, Going...

I wrote that blog Andrew when my account was Megan 75 ! It is so sad that the present generation have no interest in horticulture hence the sale to a millionaire ! What will happen to the Wallabies in the gardens, perhaps they have already been re-homed ? 3 generations of my family have been visiting these gardens over the years and I shall miss it very much. Lovely photos of such lovely gardens. So glad you went.

absolutly breath taking scenery andrew, stunning infact, bet you enjoyed your walk around there, lovely pics to, will it still be kept as gardens when taken over, hope its not going to be distroyed,

what a wonderful garden,hope its kept that way

such lovely colour great photos Thank you

Stunning photos what a lovely walk you had looking at it all.

Shirley - thank you for alerting me to their closure - it allowed me to go there before it was too late. The wallabies are still there at present.

Sanbaz - there is no news on the gardens yet. But I think whoever has bought the estate might want to rebuild the house as it's quite small for the size of grounds. We wondered if it was an Arab who bought it (it is known to be an overseas buyer). Perhaps it's a holiday home for Royal Ascot week!

well i hope they keep these lovely gardens andrew whoever it is, oh to have all that money,, keep doing the lotto lol

I've just found the newspaper item on this which says the 225 acre estate was sold to an unnamed Eastern European businessman for close to £5m, he intends to shut the gardens to the public. There is a home attached to the gardens, it's not the original manor house, which has been turned into offices. : o ( ( ( ( ( (

Yea, I saw that on TV the other day, I have been there, I love the gardens. What a shame..... It will be sadly missed. Hope the knew owner will open it again and do not change anything, but nurture the gardens....

Thank you very much Andrew, for have shared these lovely photos!

Beautiful scenery, what a pity its closing, a joy to the eye and heart.

What a beautiful garden !! How can anyone not want to keep it going ? It saddens my heart to think what will become of it all :(

April - I think it's a matter of time and cost which has forced the owner to sell. I think the new owner intends to keep the garden going (he is employing the same gardeners) but will not open it to the public. Perhpas the Yellow Book County Organiser for Sussex could contact him to open just one day a year?

Thats a relief Andrew, open days are enjoyed by thousands of keen gardeners, what a shame if he doesnt want to share such a wonderful garden, how I envy him ... oh well .... shall have to be happy with my postage stamp garden here lol

I visited these lovely gardens back in May.We couldn't believe they were going to be sold.

Did you visit the exquisite dolls houses, more like a tiny model village I have never seen anything quite like it. My friends and I were astounded how small and perfectly modelled. I wonder what the new owner will do with it?

Why do I have this Edit comment on my entry?

Seven years on ... Here is some great information on the gardens:

"We are delighted to announce that Leonardslee Gardens are now under new ownership and will be re-opening to the public in 2018. As I'm sure you can appreciate, there is a lot of work to be done between now and our re-launch, but it's a very exciting time with lots of planning already underway to ensure the estate is better than ever before."

There is more detailed information to be found on-line.

That's great news Shirley

Andrew, I look forward to visiting the gardens at some point next year. I also hope not too much will have changed!