Conservation Zone

It is probably accurate enough to say that the whole of Wakehurst Place is a conservation zone. Not just the 73 hectares (180 acres) of the most-visited gardens, woodland walks and Millennium Seed Bank, but also the 60 hectares (149 acres) of the Loder Valley Nature Reserve, plus what few visitors know about, the 55 hectares (136 acres) of outlying parkland and woodland which is managed to conserve it as what English Heritage list it as - Grade II historic house and parkland.

Much of Wakehurst Place is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), designated as such for the valuable communities of filmy ferns, mosses, liverworts on lichens, (collectively known as cryptogams), growing on the the sandstone outcrops of the Wakehurst and Chiddingly Woods. This is reflected in the founding of the Francis Rose Reserve, probably the first nature reserve in Europe to be dedicated to these cryptogams.

Within the public grounds, 'conservation' also embraces the Pinetum, Westwood Valley, the Himalayan Glade, Westwood Lake and the Wetland Conservation Area, while the Field Study Centre demonstrates conservation in action for parties of enthusiastic pupils from local schools.

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Pinetum

Francis Rose Reserve

Himalayan Glade

Westwood Valley

Field Study Centre

Wetland Conservation Area and Westwood Lake

Continue the tour

Back up to: Wakehurst Zones

Carry on to: Woodland Zone