Wakehurst Place facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Wakehurst Place |
|
|---|---|
Wakehurst Place house
|
|
| Type | Country house estate |
| OS grid reference | TQ 33950 31418 |
| Area | West Sussex |
| Built | 1590 |
| Governing body | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| Owner | National Trust |
|
Listed Building – Grade I
|
|
| Official name: Wakehurst Place | |
| Designated | 28 October 1957 |
| Reference no. | 1025764 |
| Official name: Wakehurst Place | |
| Designated | 1 June 1984 |
| Reference no. | 1000189 |
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
Wakehurst, also known as Wakehurst Place, is a beautiful old house and amazing botanic gardens in West Sussex, England. The National Trust owns it, but the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew manages and uses it.
Wakehurst is located near Ardingly, West Sussex. It has a mansion from the late 1500s and a garden that was mostly created in the 1900s. It's also home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, which is a modern building. Visitors can explore the gardens, the mansion, and even visit the seed bank!
The garden covers about 2 square kilometers (almost 500 acres). It features different areas like walled gardens, water gardens, woodlands, and special areas for protecting wetlands. Kew Gardens has been in charge of the land since 1965. They have done a lot, like starting the Millennium Seed Bank and creating nature reserves. They also added a visitor center, a café, and a restaurant.
Wakehurst is a very important historical site. The main house is a "Grade I" listed building, meaning it's of exceptional interest. The gardens are also listed as "Grade II*", showing their special historic value.
Contents
History of Wakehurst
The Wakehurst mansion was built way back in 1590 by a person named Sir Edward Culpeper. It used to be shaped like a full square courtyard. Over time, it was changed and now looks like the letter "E".
In 1903, a man named Gerald Loder bought the estate. He spent 33 years making the gardens what they are today. After him, Sir Henry Price took care of the gardens. Sir Henry gave Wakehurst to the country in 1963. Then, in 1965, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, started managing the property from the National Trust.
Interestingly, in 1887, an American architect built a copy of Wakehurst in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. This replica house was later bought by Salve Regina University in 1972.
Special Plant Collections
Wakehurst is home to special plant groups called National Collections. These are like living libraries of specific types of plants. Wakehurst has National Collections of:
- Betula (birch trees)
- Hypericum (a type of flowering plant)
- Nothofagus (Southern Hemisphere beech trees)
- Skimmia (a type of evergreen shrub)
In 1987, a huge storm hit, knocking down 20,000 trees that Gerald Loder had planted. Since then, Kew has redesigned the gardens. Now, you can walk through areas that show temperate woodlands from all over the world.
The Millennium Seed Bank
The Wellcome Trust Millennium Building, opened in 2000, holds the amazing Millennium Seed Bank. This is a huge international project run by Kew Gardens.
The main goal of the Millennium Seed Bank is to collect and store seeds. They want to gather seeds from all the native plants in the UK. By 2020, they aimed to save seeds from 25% of the world's plants! This important work helps to protect species from becoming extinct in the wild.
Close to the Seed Bank, Kew also looks after two nature reserves. The Loder Valley Nature Reserve has woodlands, meadows, and wetlands. The Francis Rose Reserve is special because it's the first one dedicated to cryptogams, which are plants like mosses, lichens, and ferns.
England's Tallest Christmas Tree
Wakehurst is home to the biggest growing Christmas tree in England! It's a giant redwood tree. This amazing tree stands 35 meters (about 115 feet) tall.
Every year, from Advent until Twelfth Night, the tree is lit up with about 1,800 lights. In 2006, the lights were changed to energy-saving bulbs. So, while it might not be as bright as before, it uses much less energy!
See also
In Spanish: Wakehurst Place Garden para niños
