Sheffield Park

Sheffield Park is a celebrated National Trust garden in East Sussex, laid out around a series of interconnected lakes on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. Originally designed in the eighteenth century with input from Capability Brown and Humphry Repton, the landscape was transformed in the early twentieth century by Arthur Soames into one of the great horticultural gardens of southern England.

The garden is famed for its layered planting of trees and shrubs, with reflections in the four main lakes providing dramatic seasonal change. Spring brings carpets of bluebells, daffodils and flowering rhododendrons; summer offers tranquil green walks and waterlilies; and autumn ignites the rare North American maples, tupelos and nyssas in vivid reds and golds, making it one of the best places in the country for autumn colour.

Beyond the garden, the wider Sheffield Park estate includes parkland walks, a tearoom and a children's natural play area. The site sits immediately next to Sheffield Park station on the Bluebell Railway, so steam train enthusiasts often combine the two on a single day out.