Introduction

Nymans is one of the great gardens of the Sussex Weald and is internationally famous for its beauty and collection of rare plants. It is the achievement of three generations of the Messel family over a period of over a hundred years. Nymans was one of the first gardens to come to the National Trust when it was bequeathed into its care in 1953.

The creation of the Garden

In 1890 Ludwig Messel purchased the 600 acre Nymans estate with the Regency house. The creation of the garden got underway in earnest in September 1895 when the 29-year old James Comber was appointed Head Gardener. His horticultural expertise and Messel's willingness to experiment with new plants were to prove the perfect combination.

©NTPL / Stephen Robson

One of their first major projects was the Pinetum. No fewer than 15 varieties of Pinus and numerous other conifers were planted. They also created a rock garden of local sandstone planted up with helianthemums and dwarf shrubs. Rare magnolias and hybrid rhododendrons were also brought to the garden. The nearby Heather Garden, designed by Messel was one of the first of its kind, combining ericas with dwarf rhododendrons.

An avenue of limes linked the bottom of the Pinetum with the house. The old orchard was transformed into the Wall Garden which, because of its mild microclimate and particularly fertile soil, became a favourite site for tender exotic plants gathered from all over the world.

©NTPL / David Sellman

From Victorian house to medieval manor

When Ludwig died in 1915, he was succeeded by his son Lt. Col. Leonard Messel. Leonard did not radically alter the framework of the garden devised by his father, but extended it north to form the Top Garden and continued to nurture a wide variety of plants. He also planted more exotics and old roses and subscribed to seed collecting expeditions in the Himalayas and South America.

However, Leonard did not care for the house and during the 1920's he commissioned a romantic mock-medieval manor house, by architects Sir Walter Tapper and Norman Evill.

Leonard and his wife Maud had three children: Linley who joined the family stockbrokers; Anne, who was one of the great beauties of the 1920's and 30's; and Oliver, the most creative designer of his day, whose artistic talents were inherited by his nephew, Lord Snowdon, and grand-nephew Lord Linley.

Disaster strikes

By the 1930's, the garden had reached its peak and was regularly opened to the public, but all this came to an end with the Second World War. Fuel for the hot-houses disappeared and the staff shrank from 11 to three elderly men. A further disaster struck in February 1947 when fire destroyed most of the house. The gardens, however, survived. The house was partially rebuilt and became the home of Anne and her second husband Michael, 6th Earl of Rosse.

©NTPL / Ian Shaw

Leonard Messel died in 1953, leaving Nymans Garden to the National Trust and his daughter, Anne, Countess of Rosse, oversaw the garden until 1987. During these years she continued to improve the garden in her role of Garden Director.

It is remarkable that since Nymans Garden was created in 1890 it has seen only three Head Gardeners: James Comber from 1895-1953; Cecil Nice, who began working at Nymans in 1924 and succeeded James Comber as Head Gardener in 1953; and currently David Masters, who took over when Cecil retired in 1980.

After the death of the Countess of Rosse in 1992 the part of the house not ruined by the fire of 1947 was opened to the public for the very first time. Known as the Messel Family Rooms, they are presented as the Countess of Rosse left them. The Garden Hall, Book Room and Library still have the romantic medieval aura that Maud had so loved.