Leonardslee

Leonardslee is one of the largest and most spectacular landscaped woodland gardens in England. They are particularly noted for their spring displays of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias and bluebells, with the flowering season reaching its peak in May. Leonardslee is situated at Lower Beeding, near Horsham, West Sussex.

Following the sale of the estate in July 2010, the gardens are no longer open to the public.

The main 19th-century Italianate style house and a 19th-century octagonal lodge to the north west of the main house are listed Grade II for their architectural merit. The garden is listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The gardens, which are overlooked by a 19th-century Italianate house, were started in 1801 and cover 200 acres of a steep sandstone valley, in which there are a series of seven man-made ponds, some of which once provided power for the Wealden iron industry. Victorian plant collector Sir Edmund Loder purchased the estate from his parents-in-law in 1889 and planted extensive collections of Rhododendrons and Azaleas and many species of trees. The garden is listed Grade I in the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. An unusual feature, for England, is the colony of wallabies which have grazed the grass in the gardens for over a century. A rock garden near the house was built c.1890 by the famous Victorian landscaping company James Pulham and Son, who also built a mound containing artificial caves for mouflon, now used for the wallabies. The gardens, which also contained a collection of Victorian motor cars, a miniature exhibition called Beyond the Doll's House, and a display of modern outdoor sculptures, attracted some 50,000 visitors per year.

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