Natural play features at Wakehurst Place

The Adventurous Journey continues!

This is a really exciting project with each of the features we have linking to plants and the Millennium Seed Bank. Each design is unique, using local designers and materials to keep these features true to our conservation message.

Chris Clennett, Garden Manager

Children's natural play area at Wakehurst

Adventurous Journeys is the title of a series of natural play features being built at Wakehurst over the coming years. In March 2010 we opened the first of Wakehurst’s natural play features in the area of the gardens known as the Oaks. Lying between the Visitor Centre and the Stables restaurant, this is the first part of the estate most visitors see, and an obvious place to begin our own adventurous journey.

Living willow tunnels

Tunnels and Tents is a series of four living willow tunnels designed by Annemarie O’Sullivan, a local basket weaver and willow artist from Lewes. Using high quality Somerset willow, along with varieties harvested from the Water Gardens at Wakehurst, the tunnels were built by Annemarie and husband Tom, ably assisted by “the three Chris’s” of the Garden Unit along with Learning Programme volunteers. These beautifully designed structures will develop and improve as the willow grows.

A spiral maze

These have since been joined by Scents of Direction, a spiral maze of containers between the Stables restaurant and the Mansion. A mix of scented plants allows young children to interact with plants in a safe environment.

Totem Poles and an acoustic chair

Talking Totems in Horsebridge Wood is a set of three totem poles and an acoustic chair, all designed and built by Woodland Products of West Hoathley, just a few miles from Wakehurst. Carved using a chainsaw, these represent native American stories and uses of North American trees, including red alder, Douglas fir, pignut hickory and alligator wood or sweet gum. Two of the totems have slots carefully carved into them to resonate when struck by the wooden claves on hand for children (and adults alike!).

A labyrinth of natural spirals

Our largest feature, and the most adventurous journey yet, is Unexpected Endings, a labyrinth based on the special sequence of numbers found in nature that creates natural spirals (the Fibonaci series). Designed by a Kew patron and installed by a local brick artists with staff and volunteer help from Wakehurst, this labyrinth has a 24 m diameter and is almost 600 m long if you follow the winding brick path through the grass. It can be found above Westwood Valley beyond the Water Garden.

More to come...

And we haven't stopped yet! More features are planned, with Time Travelling the next to be completed. This finger maze is a miniature version of Unexpected Endings, cut into an old oak stump above the Water Garden. Look out for more play features to come.

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