Borde Hill Garden awarded heritage funding

Borde Hill Garden, located near Haywards Heath in West Sussex, has been awarded a £2.25m grant by The National Lottery Heritage Fund to deliver the proposals for its ‘Reinventing Borde Hill’ project. The project will enable Borde Hill to unlock 110 acres of listed landscape, improving access to the site’s nationally important heritage, connecting local communities with the restorative power of nature, and inspiring future generations through outdoor learning. Key elements of the project include an all-year-round Eco Lodge, a pedestrian route to encourage accessible and green travel, Dinosaur Wood for outdoor learning and play, and the Growers Community Garden and Propagation Project.

To find out more about this hugely exciting project and show your support, please visit https://bordehill.co.uk/about-us/reinventing-borde-hill/.

Set within the rolling hills of the Sussex High Weald, Borde Hill is a Grade II* Listed Park and Garden, and one of Britain’s truly great heritage Gardens. The vision of Colonel Stephenson Robert Clarke, who from 1893 dedicated fifty years to creating a magnificent collection of rare trees and flowering shrubs from around the world, the plantings are a supreme example of the best in British gardening. The botanical collection includes many plant species found nowhere else in Britain, and one of the country’s largest privately owned collections of champion trees. Safeguarding this nationally important plant collection is the focus of Borde Hill Garden Charity, and without this funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, many of the rare and unusual specimens would be at great risk of damage or loss.

Made possible by National Lottery players, the project will ‘reinvent’ the South Park as a thriving destination for the 21st Century while honouring and celebrating the Charity’s rich and important botanical history. This will be achieved through a broader appreciation of the Garden’s heritage via learning, engagement and wellbeing activities, and the provision of accessible new facilities in the South Park and at Sugworth Farm which will offer a series of educational and community programmes to engage a new and diverse local audience. Communities will be able to learn, play, and reconnect with the natural environment. The project will encourage and facilitate outdoor learning, discovery and play for children and young people of all ages, fostering a closer connection with nature.

Working closely with NHS social prescribers and local stakeholders, communities will be able to experience the mental and physical benefits of being in nature, and a sustainable new Eco Lodge building will provide a much needed all-year round community space in a stunning natural setting on the edge of tranquil Robertsmere Lake.

The project will create new employment opportunities for local people, with Borde Hill Garden Charity recruiting an additional 7.5 roles during and after the project, including a Horticultural Apprentice, a Community Growing Officer, and Park Rangers. The construction project will support 26 jobs over one year, directly and indirectly. Borde Hill will also increase its volunteering opportunities, engaging with an additional 69 volunteers throughout the project, as well as expanding its work experience programme for secondary schools in the local area.

Volunteers, community groups and schools will be able to take part in the project through co-creation design and construction activities, and ongoing training and learning opportunities which will inspire local audiences to make a positive environmental impact, while encouraging natural biodiversity and protecting against climate change with sustainable best practice.

The project will create a network of accessible paths in Borde Hill’s currently underused South Park, along with outdoor play and learning facilities. A new entrance at South Lodge in the southeast corner of the parkland will enable car-free access for the first time, making Borde Hill one of the few visitor gardens in Sussex to be accessible with ease via public transport, and encouraging green travel.

A Growers Community Garden and Propagation Project will highlight the importance of biodynamic, locally grown produce and good horticultural practice, enabling community groups and individuals to connect with nature for their wellbeing, to socialise, and to learn gardening skills. Important interpretation exploring the significance of Borde Hill’s botanical history, and an established learning and volunteers programme will see initiatives across propagation, growing, outdoor learning and environmental sustainability.

This is a community-led project and Borde Hill Garden Charity is already working closely with over 1,000 local and national groups and organisations to develop their plans, including: Dimensions Charity, Treehoppers Forest Kindergarten, Mid Sussex Active, The Sussex Wildlife Trust, The Royal Horticultural Society, Mid Sussex Voluntary Action, Local Schools including Northlands Wood, St Joseph’s Primary School and Woodlands Mead, Local NHS Social Prescribing Network, Mind West Sussex and Bentswood Hub CIC.

The project is kindly supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Garfield Weston Foundation, John Swire 1989 Charitable Trust, the Sylvia Waddilove Foundation, the Christopher Rowbotham Charitable Trust, and Southern Railway. Borde Hill Garden Charity now has an additional £1,023,549 in partner funding to raise through Trusts, Foundations, and sponsorship to help realise this generation-defining project.

Jay Goddard, Managing Director and 5^th generation Family custodian of Borde Hill, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, which is testament to the significance of this project. Thanks to money raised by National Lottery players we can now unlock new areas of Borde Hill, providing vital access to green space for our local community, and creating important opportunities to learn about our shared natural heritage, while also safeguarding our nationally important botanical collection and natural landscape for generations to come.”

Stuart McLeod, Director England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “Landscapes and nature form the bedrock of our culture and heritage, improving wellbeing, sparking curiosity, and protecting and providing for the community’s surrounding and inhabiting them. That’s why we’re proud to fund Borde Hill to deliver this project that will open-up this historically and horticulturally significant landscape. At The National Lottery Heritage Fund, we’re incredibly proud to be playing a role in ensuring our natural heritage is safeguarded for generations to come, but also that the projects we fund give people the chance to connect with the nature and wildlife that is on their doorsteps.”