The imposing nineteenth century flint mansion overlooks around 600 acres of rolling Sussex countryside, with 90 acres currently open as gardens to visit.
When Edward James signed the house over to his arts educational trust in the 1970's, the gardens had deteriorated significantly and storms in the late 1980's damaged them further. A restoration team was brought in under he guidance of Head Gardener Jim Buckland and his Australian wife Sarah Wain, who continue to lead the garden development team today.
Their efforts have produced extraordinary results with the gardens being awarded an English Heritage Garden Grade 2 status - quite an achievement in just twenty years.
Walled Garden:The jewel in the crown is without doubt the great walled gardens that feature some of the most splendid glasshouses to seen anywhere. A few are in need of further repair, but most are restored beautifully and open to walk though. Here you can admire the immaculate attention to detail that the garden team lavish on every detail, every bed and every plant. Ornate Victorian glasshouse rods, levers, pipes and gratings are everywhere, controlling ventilation, shade, temperature and water. While whitewashed walls hold espallier canes and wires in perfect precision for the peaches, vines, melon and other exotic crops to climb upon. Look out for a fabulous collection of Begonia along with plenty of other tropical and sub tropical plants.
Then there are the dozens of coldframes, again all immaculately maintained with seedlings emerging in military precision, all beautifully labeled with hand painted signs. Connoisseurs of 'old garden' will be well rewarded here with some lovely old potting sheds filled with ancient and dusty tool relics of gardens-gone-by.
The overall great walled area includes a Kitchen Garden, a Cuttings Garden that includes the glasshouses and a Fruit Garden featuring many heritage trees and some impressive espallier work. All looked over quietly by a large, round, thatched gatehouse which is delightfully picturesque.
Borders: Wandering through the rest of the gardens is a much more spacious experience with broad borders richly planted with spring and summer colour and large areas of beautifully maintained and lush rolling lawns.
Pergola:The 300 foot long pergola, designed by Harold Peto in 1911 in one of the largest you'll see and carries roses, honeysuckle and clematis up, around and above your head to release their heady fragrances.
Sunken Garden:A particular favourite of this reviewer is the Sunken Garden, a square, rockery and raised border landscaped feature filled with the best of English cottage border annuals and small shrubs including some wonderful roses.
The Spring Gardens: are ablaze with thousands of bulbs in season but the rest of the year provide a very pretty and shady walk. A Laburnum Walk is another highlight in early summer.
This leads to a Wild Garden with wildflower meadows, woodlands, ponds and excellent views back to the house.
Finally, the further point is the St Roche Aboretum that has many prize specimen trees planted centuries ago. It also provides a final resting place for Edward James whose vision, passion and vast wealth has been put to so much good, here at West Dean.
Author: Bob Saunders.
Restaurant and Shop: The Gardens Restaurant and Shop, built of local flint and brick, was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1996.
Adjacent to the River Lavant, the Gardens Restaurant and Shop overlooks the beautiful Lavant valley and West Dean Park.
The restaurant is licensed and provides home-made lunches and afternoon teas.
The adjoining garden shop carries an imaginative range of gifts and plants for sale.
Road:West Dean College and Gardens are situated in South East England, six miles north of the historic city of Chichester and 12 miles from the south coast. West Dean College and West Dean Gardens are each accessible from separately signed entrances from the A286. Each has free parking with designated spaces for disabled visitors. The Gardens car park also has reserved parking for coaches.
Train: Direct train services to Chichester are available from London Victoria. Connecting buses (Stagecoach number 60) are available from the bus station (adjacent to the train station), alternatively a taxi rank is situated outside the station. It is a 10-15 minute journey to West Dean College and Gardens.
A faster rail service operates from London Waterloo to Haslemere, a 20-minute taxi journey away. For information about train timetables, tickets and 'real-time' train running, please contact National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 (calls charged at local rate) or visit the National Rail Enquiry Service Web site at www.nationalrail.co.uk.