The diary of West Dean (From Hampshire Society)

The diary of West Dean

4:04pm Tuesday 12th January 2010

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West Dean, just north of Chichester in West Sussex, is home to the Edward James Foundation which is known notably for its College with an international reputation for its short courses, full time MAs and Diplomas and its beautifully restored and cared-for gardens which are open to the public throughout 2010. William James purchased the estate in 1891.

West Dean House is a beautiful building, clothed in knapped Norfolk flint and crowned by a castellated tiara of natural stone.

Originally built in 1622 by John Lewknor on a site previously occupied by a medieval building, it was remodelled in 1805 by the first Baron Selsey, and further extended in 1892 by William James.

When he died in 1912, the estate passed to his son Edward. A life-long patron of the arts, Edward loved West Dean and in 1964, he conveyed the whole estate and his art collection to the Edward James Foundation, a charitable education trust, thus saving the estate from crippling death duties or being broken up by future custodians. In 1971 West Dean College was born. This is an internationally renowned centre for conservation, making and visual arts.

You can study guitar making and botanical painting, textiles and metalworking and a whole lot more, including a plethora of diverse and interesting gardening and garden-related courses. The estate as a whole comprises 6,400 acres situated on the western South Downs and stretching for just over six miles from end to end, and encompassing the award-winning gardens, which include a 300 foot long pergola designed by Harold Peto and a walled garden containing 16 of the finest Victorian glasshouses and frames in the country.

There is an arboretum, parkland, lawns, borders, bedding schemes, riverside plantings, wild flower meadows and much more. On my first visit in high summer a year or two ago, I walked through the gardens around the house and found the whole place delightful and interesting and it was not difficult to while away an hour or two.

I then proceeded into the walled garden and was completely overwhelmed by the scale of the operations there.

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