The Victorian mansion sits in some 90 acres of grounds including pleasure gardens, woodlands and flower meadows. The entire estate is Soil Association Certified. The Hall was designed by the architect of Hyde Park Gardens, John Crake. He was a pupil of the celebrated Georgian architect Decimus Burton and died of tuberculosis in his early 40’s soon after the completion of Fairlight Hall. With the exception of the late Victorian extension on the North wing, the sandstone mock Tudor house is unchanged from its original design, and the garden infrastructure of stone walls, winding entrance drive and circular paths is as laid out in the 1850s. The exceptions to this are the new lawns, Portland stone entrance steps and pond at the front entrance to the Hall completed in 2010. The bronze statue at the front of the house, The Three Graces, is a sculpture by the Brazilian-born artist St Clair de Cemin.
Begun in 2007, this a work in progress. As new shrub plantings have gone in, the Victorian Rhododendrons have been gradually pushed back to make more space and light. Unusually, some of the Rhododendron retained here as a windbreak and foil to the bold and exotic planting has not reverted to species, and show more interesting colour and variety. The plantings are both hardy and frost tender in this sheltered spot and approximately 30 per cent of the plants are moved to the green house for winter protection. The more tender plants need a full summer for fresh growth and flower, and the border is often at its best in September.
Widened and re-shaped in 2006, the Long Border is a mixed planting of herbaceous annuals and perennials as well as shrubs and climbing roses. Here the theme is of hot, spicy colours intended to emanate from foliage as much as the flower, and with the aim of pushing the boundaries of seasonal interest by using many North American perrenials and shrubs which often flower later in the season. These strong brushstrokes of colour are also designed for enjoyment at a distance from the upstairs bedrooms of the house.
The Ha-ha Border, reinstated and widened in 2007, is a young border of exclusively herbaceous plants with the exception of the Yew hedges, the Euonymus japonica aurea ‘lollypops’, climbing roses and ornamental mallus. The yews will be shaped into buttresses and form rooms along this 120-metre border. The colour and texture of the planting is intended to feel gentler, more ‘English’, and less likely to compete with the backdrop of meadows and hills that roll down to the sea. The mixed peony ‘hedge’ which reaches its peak in late May early June, is still establishing itself, and additional varieties are added each year.
The Nursery, just beyond the Stable Block, houses tender plants and extends the planting season with propagation of bedding plants and vegetable seedlings. This is also an area where perennials which have been lifted and divided are heeled in for stock and sale.
Close to the Walled Garden is the newest area in the pleasure gardens, the ‘Russian Steppes’, so called for the stepped slopes down to a sunburst pond, forming a large natural amphitheatre with extensive views to the sea.
Walled Garden restoration began in 2006 with the repair of collapsing walls. In the following two years the designer for the project, Suzanne Watson, oversaw the installation of raised beds, a new glass house and a 40,000-litre subterranean rainwater collection tank. There are multiple rainwater collection tanks around the grounds topped up by natural spring water stored in several ponds on the estate. The Walled Garden amphitheatre has been used for concerts and most recently a performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by students from the Hastings Academy. The garden won a Sussex Heritage Trust renovation award in 2009. There are six part-time gardeners and one full-time gardener.
At Fairlight Hall we offer a volunteer scheme so people can be involved in a variety of areas within the garden. Volunteers at Fairlight Hall will be able to experience one of the finest gardens in East Sussex which is rarely open to the public.
There are some 35 acres of mixed, broadleaf native woodland, including extensive bluebell woods. The Woodland is also managed for firewood production and harvesting and from September 2015 we have offered a range of firewood for commercial and residential use.
