The history of Nymans house and garden

The Regency house

Before the Messel family lived here, Nymans was a plain Regency style house, probably built around 1839 by a man named George Harrington.

The Messel family arrive

Ludwig Messel was the first Messel to live at Nymans and, as a German émigré who had set up a successful stockbroking business, the purchase of a country estate was the ideal way for him to integrate into English society.

With his wife Annie, he bought the 600-acre Nymans estate in 1890 where he could cultivate his love of gardening, sharing it with family and friends.

Remodelling starts

Ludwig commissioned a larger Germanic-looking house, adding features such as a conservatory, billiard room, and tower. Designs were drawn up by his brother Alfred Messel, who was already a famous architect in Germany, and work was carried out by local builders.

He continued to remodel the house over a number of years and by the time Ludwig died in 1915 the house had changed again though the main structure stayed the same.

Ludwig's vision for the garden

Ludwig Messel wasn't just a plantsman, he was a designer too who carefully considered his planting schemes. He worked closely with his trusted Head Gardener James Comber.

They were a perfect partnership, with Ludwig providing the inspiration and Comber the horticultural expertise. Ludwig was passionate about plants and happy to spend vast amounts of money on his garden, working with Comber to breed new cultivars.

Together they created what is now called The Nymans Collection, which are plants raised and connected with Nymans.

A summer home

The Messel family lived predominantly at Nymans in the spring and summer months, returning to their London home in the winter, so the garden was planted to hold most interest in these months.

The famous summer borders were planted in the Edwardian period to give maximum colour impact, and they're still as flamboyant today as they were back then.

Arboretum is planted

Planting in the arboretum started in the 1890s and you can still see some of these trees today. Muriel planted the spring borders between 1904 and 1915 and they were developed further by her niece Anne, Countess of Rosse.

Wisterias at Nymans

Wisterias have always played an important part in the history of Nymans. Following the Japanese Exhibition in London in 1903, it became fashionable to introduce some of the features on display into homes and gardens.

Nymans was no exception, and Ludwig installed the stone lanterns he had seen at the exhibition and built a pergola beside the croquet lawn.

Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria floribunda 'Multijuga' were planted so they could climb over the top of the structure, and some of the original plants may still exist at Nymans, though records were lost in the fire in 1947. The wisterias also suffered in the storm of 1987, when the original pergola had to be demolished.