Description
Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Ashford has over 460 acres to explore, with a Formal Garden, routes around the lake and a working vegetable garden. Inside there is a gatehouse exhibition, a tower and a library, and the Castle has a rich and varied history, once a Saxon pig farm, its Tudor buildings were once used as a prison for 3,000 French sailors captured during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). It has been used as a poor house where inmates worked on the farm and then in the early 1930s it was purchased by Vita Sackville-West the poet, novelist and garden designer and her husband Harold Nicolson, who opened the garden in the late 1930s to the public.
Opening Hours
Garden
11am-5.30pm
Estate
10am-5.30pm
Long Library, Exhibition
11am-5pm
Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Price
Admission
Whole property - until 27th October
National Trust Member: Free
Gift Aid/Standard
Adult: £18.70/£17
Child: £9.40/£8.50
One adult family: £28.10/£25.50
Family: £46.80/£42.50
Parking
National Trust Member: Free
Non member: £4.
Accessibility
Wheelchair users might find some areas of the garden challenging due to uneven paths and steps, and the formal garden is not accessible.
Parking
National Trust members: Free
Parking charges for non members: £4.
Train
Staplehurst station - 5 miles.
Bus
Arriva 5 Maidstone to Hawkhurst (passing Staplehurst train station), alight Sissinghurst - 1¼ miles walk though there is no designated path for pedestrians on the main drive.
Dog
Dogs are welcome on a lead, but not allowed in the formal garden.
Advisory Notes
Look out for brown signs, as your sat nav may take you to the wrong address. The turning for Sissinghurst Castle Garden is on the left from Sissinghurst village and on the right when coming from Biddenden and Headcorn.
Facilities
Cafe • Picnic Areas • Toilet • Disabled Toilet • Baby Changing Facilities
Picture Credit: © National Trust.