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Wakehurst
Wild botanic garden, managed by Kew and home to the Millennium Seed Bank
Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TN
Important notice
Gardens close early at 3pm (last entry 2pm) and catering times vary on select dates from 23 November 2023 to 1 January 2024 for Glow Wild.
National Trust members must bring membership cards to gain entry and car park charges apply.
Opening times for 1 December 2023
Asset Opening time Garden 10:00 - 15:00 Millennium Seed Bank 10:00 - 14:00 Seeds Café 10:00 - 21:45 Shop 10:00 - 21:45 Stables Kitchen 10:00 - 14:30 Last admission to the Garden and Seed Bank is half an hour before closing.
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Ticket type Gift aid Standard Adult £16.50 Become a member and discover more than 500 places
Available for functions
Kiosk
The Pantry Kiosk offers energy-boosting snacks, locally sourced cakes and pastries, as well as grab-and-go drinks.
Cafe
Licenced for civil weddings
Car park
Plant shop
Coffee shop
Restaurant
Dogs
Shop
Guided tour
Toilet
Designated mobility parking near visitor centre. Accessible toilets and accessible paths. Wheelchair and mobility scooters.
Accessible route and/or map
Many accessible paths on site
Level access to food outlet
Accessible toilet
Level access to shop
Changing Places
Level access/terrain
Designated parking
Seating available
Drop-off point
Wheelchairs available
Induction loop
By road
M23 junction 10, on B2028 near Ardingly More info on the parking charges on the Kew website.
Parking: 50 yards from entrance. NT Members enjoy free entry to the gardens, but car parking charges apply as a contribution to RBG Kew’s plant science, conservation and horticultural work. Wakehurst and Kew members and day paying visitors: free. Minibuses of school children on formal education visits: free. Group visits in coaches park for free if 50% or more of the passengers pay for entry, otherwise £50 p/coach.
On foot
footpath from Balcombe (4 miles)
By train
Haywards Heath 6 miles; East Grinstead 6 miles
By bus
from Haywards Heath to Crawley, passing Haywards Heath train station and Three Bridges train station. 272 Crawley - Brighton (Royal Sussex County Hospital)
By bicycle
Planning your visit
Find out more about planning your visit using the links below to the Wakehurst website.
Dog walks with a difference
From Monday 27 February, we will be opening our spectacular landscape to dogs. Responding to overwhelmingly positive feedback following our recent dog walking trials, we hope our expansive gardens will form a unique destination for invigorating walks with your furry friends.
Group visits to Wakehurst
Come as a group of 10 or more and enjoy discounted entry. You can even arrange a private tour for your group with a volunteer guide.
School visits to Wakehurst
We offer exciting curriculum-linked education sessions for your school, university or college, with sessions available for all ages, abilities and learning needs. From early years to key stage 5, Wakehurst is your perfect outdoor classroom.
Highlights
Formal Mansion gardens
Formal gardens overflowing with important and diverse plant collections, vibrant scents, bursts of colour and botanical delights.
Native and global landscape
Explore our vast gardens at Wakehurst that stretch across 500 acres. Experience sights, smells, and sounds from botanic landscapes across the planet, from native meadows, temperate woodlands and stunning wetlands. Take in the spring bluebells and blossoming summer spectacles to riots of autumn colour and winter-frost serenity.
Mansion
We are now home to one the UK’s largest outdoor art installations, Planet Wakehurst, by artist Catherine Nelson. The wrap is covering our Elizabethan mansion whilst essential roof works take place, Planet Wakehurst is a riotous celebration of our wild botanic garden with a built-in viewing platform 33ft high offering visitors a phenomenal outlook across Wakehurst and beyond!
Millennium Seed Bank
The Millennium Seed Bank is a treasure trove of scientific excellence. Hiding an underground collection of over 2.4 billion seeds from around the world, banking them to conserve them for the future.
Dog Walking
We are excited to welcome your four-legged friends for walks across our 500-acre wild botanic garden at Wakehurst. Take your furry friend on a specially curated dog-walking route that takes in our sights, sounds and smells.
Eating
Enjoy tasty food, hot drinks and delicious treats fit for the season at our cafés and restaurants.
Shopping and Plant Centre
Browse our fantastic range of gifts, books and homeware at our visit centre shop. Or get your seasonal plants inspired by our world-class collections at our plant centre.
Family-friendly
With more than 500 acres of gardens, woodlands and natural play spaces, there are plenty of things for families to do at Wakehurst — and kids go free! Each school holiday join our superhero squad, learn a new skill every half term and become a hero for the natural world. Put on your cape, join our mission and collect unique new badges!
Things to see and do
Water Gardens
Journey through interconnected water-based gardens and see rock roses, magnolias, lilies and our magnificent Iris Dell with over 60 varieties of Japanese water iris.
Walled Garden
The Walled Garden is Wakehurst’s most exquisite, intimate space. A wonderful expression of the English Country Garden style and full of soft, subtle colours; it's packed with bulbs in the spring and flowering until the hard frosts come in November.
Temperate Woodlands
Enjoy a walk through the stunning temperate woodlands of the world and admire giant redwoods, hickories, gum trees and even the ‘dinosaur’ of trees – the Wollemi pine.
Meadows and Prairies
Go on a journey to North America, this vibrant grassland evokes the vast and iconic North American wild plant communities. Your gaze will stretch out across Wakehurst, with stunning views of the Water Gardens and Coronation Meadow.
Mansion
Whilst the mansion is currently undergoing an extensive roof restoration, we have commissioned the creation of Planet Wakehurst, a bespoke photo montage from artist Catherine Nelson.
Millennium Seed Bank exhibition
The Millennium Seed Bank hides an underground collection of over 2.4 billion seeds from around the world, banking them to conserve them for the future. Enter our glass atrium to see our scientists at work in front of your very eyes.
Family-friendly activities
With more than 500 acres of gardens, woodlands and outdoor activities, there is plenty for families to do at Wakehurst — and kids go free! Each school holiday, join our Nature Hero squad and complete a new nature saving mission or return over the winter months for Glow Wild, Sussex’s ultimate festive lantern trail, there is something for everyone!
Nature Heroes
Every half term and school holiday, young adventurers will have the opportunity to become a planet-saving Nature Hero. Put on your cape, join our mission and collect unique new badges.
Eating
Eating and drinking at Wakehurst
Enjoy hot food and delicious treats and a little something for your canine companion at our cafes and restaurants at Wakehurst.
Shopping
Shopping at Wakehurst
The Visitor Centre shop and Plant Centre are open with a fantastic range of gifts, plants, books and homeware.
Spotlight events
Events at Wakehurst
Fun festivals, family events and workshops run throughout the year. Visit the events page on the Wakehurst website to find out more.
Places to stay
Woodlands Cottage
A former game keeper’s house, this classically-styled cottage is surrounded by woodland.
The Morris Apartment
A one-bedroom apartment in trademark Arts and Crafts style, on the second floor of Standen House.
Welbeck Cottage
Nestled on the vast Sheffield Park estate in the glorious Sussex countryside, this gardener’s cottage puts you at the heart of the historic parkland.
About Wakehurst
Wild botanic garden, managed by Kew and home to the Millennium Seed Bank
Wakehurst is Kew’s wild botanic garden. Its ancient and beautiful landscapes in the Sussex High Weald are a place for escape, exploration, tranquility and wonder. Its diverse collection of plants from Britain and around the globe thrive within a tapestry of innovative gardens, temperate woodlands, meadows and wetlands. Wakehurst is a centre for UK biodiversity and global conservation, seed research and ecosystem science. At its heart is Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank, the world’s largest store of seeds from wild plant species.
To understand more about Wakehurst’s planet saving mission, history and secrets, take a read of https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/wakehurst-sussex-surprising-facts .
Wakehurst is owned by the National Trust - but unlike local properties - Wakehurst is managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, under a long-term lease agreement since 1965.
National Trust members enter free of charge, though parking charges apply which are vital to helping maintain over 500 acres of wild botanic gardens and some of the world’s rarest plants. Your contributions also go towards supporting Kew’s cutting-edge scientific research and horticultural conservation projects to protect plants and fungi for all life on earth.
Wakehurst welcomes the ongoing support of the National Trust. Together, we’re making great strides to protect nature and stop biodiversity loss.
Important information
Pre-booking is encouraged. Please visit Wakehurst tickets and prices | Kew to book your tickets and plan your visit. National Trust members must bring their membership card to gain entry.
Opening times:
10am – 6pm (last entry 5.30pm) Car parking donations apply.
For the latest events and seasonal highlights at Wakehurst visit the Wakehurst website or follow us on social media: (Instagram) @wakehurst_kew (Facebook) facebook.com/wakehurst.kew (Twitter) @wakehurst_kew
Get in touch: wakehurst@kew.org or call 01444 894 066 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm).
Pick up an arrival guide on your next visit with a map and seasonal highlights to show you where you can find some of the most beautiful and quiet spots in the gardens or download our map before you visit Maps of Wakehurst | Kew