Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Biddenden Road, Near Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 2 AB. Opening times vary. Admission charged.
Details
Accessibility:
2026: see https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden#Facilities%20and%20access
"Designated disabled parking in the main car park
There is currently no mobility buggy service available.
Water - please be aware that there are unfenced lakes, moat and ponds around our estate
There are many changes of levels, steps and slopes around the garden, please take care.
Adapted toilet on level ground at visitor reception and via ramp at restaurant
Wheelchair users might find some areas of our garden challenging due to uneven paths and steps
Paths in the garden may become slippery in the garden after rainfall and in the winter, please wear sturdy footwear
Due to its fragile nature we are unable to allow food, drink or buggies in the garden, carriers are provided from visitor reception.
Designated parking in the main car park. Parking charge to non National Trust members. Drop off points for the mobility buggy are from the car park to the visitor reception and the shop. Disability toilets available. Restricted access to the lower part of the shop. Some areas of the gardens can be uneven and there are steps in places."
+ 2026:
Designated disabled parking in the main car park. Adapted toilet on level ground at visitor reception and via ramp at restaurant. Due to narrow pathways, pushchairs are not allowed in the main garden but carriers are welcome. There is a step free route around the property and garden, but please note that this may be difficult to navigate due to uneven terrain. Unfenced lakes, moat and ponds around the estate.
Accessible route and/or mapAccessibility routes are available on our main map of the site or upon request at Visitor Reception or the Garden Gate.
Accessible toiletAccessible toilets and baby changing facilities are available next to Visitor Reception and at the Restaurant.
Designated parkingWe offer several accessible parking bays in our car park, and offer bicycle parking down by Visitor Reception. Upon arrival, our stewards will direct you where to go.
Drop-off pointDrop-off and pick up at Visitor Reception, if required.
Level access to food outletLevel access to shopNarrow corridorsSeating availableSteps/uneven terrainWheelchairs availableWheelchairs are available but must be booked before arrival."
Brief Description:
Sissinghurst Castle Garden is world renowned and has a diverse history behind it.
"Historic, poetic, iconic; a refuge dedicated to beauty. Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson fell in love with Sissinghurst Castle and created a world renowned garden."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17zWUvfZvxQ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sissinghurst_Castle_Garden#
Key: A – Priest's House, Erechtheum and White Garden; B – Delos; C – Top Courtyard, West Range and Purple Border; D – Entrance; E – Tower and Lower Courtyard; F – Yew Walk; G – Orchard; H – Rose Garden; I – South Cottage and Cottage Garden; J – Moat Walk and Azaleas; K – Nuttery; L – Herb Garden; M – Lime Walk
The top of the map points north-northeast,[109] and the area shown is about 5 acres (0.020 km2).[62]
2025: "Sissinghurst Castle Garden, at Sissinghurst in the Weald of Kent in England, was created by Vita Sackville-West, poet and writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, author and diplomat. It is among the most famous gardens in England and is designated Grade I on Historic England's register of historic parks and gardens. It was bought by Sackville-West in 1930, and over the next thirty years, working with, and later succeeded by, a series of notable head gardeners, she and Nicolson transformed a farmstead of "squalor and slovenly disorder"[2] into one of the world's most influential gardens. Following Sackville-West's death in 1962, the estate was donated to the National Trust. It was ranked 42nd on the list of the Trust's most-visited sites in the 2021–2022 season, with over 150,000 visitors.
The gardens contain an internationally respected plant collection, particularly the assemblage of old garden roses. The writer Anne Scott-James considered the roses at Sissinghurst to be "one of the finest collections in the world".[3] A number of plants propagated in the gardens bear names related to people connected with Sissinghurst or the name of the garden itself. The garden design is based on axial walks that open onto enclosed gardens, termed "garden rooms", one of the earliest examples of this gardening style. Among the individual "garden rooms", the White Garden has been particularly influential, with the horticulturalist Tony Lord describing it as "the most ambitious ... of its time, the most entrancing of its type."[4]
The site of Sissinghurst is ancient and has been occupied since at least the Middle Ages. The present-day buildings began as a house built in the 1530s by Sir John Baker. In 1554 Sir John's daughter Cecily married Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, an ancestor of Vita Sackville-West. By the 18th century the Bakers' fortunes had waned, and the house, renamed Sissinghurst Castle, was leased to the government to act as a prisoner-of-war camp during the Seven Years' War. The prisoners caused great damage and by the 19th century much of Sir Richard's house had been demolished. In the mid-19th century, the remaining buildings were in use as a workhouse, and by the 20th century Sissinghurst had declined to the status of a farmstead. In 1928 the castle was advertised for sale but remained unsold for two years.
Sackville-West was born in 1892 at Knole, the ancestral home of the Sackvilles. But for her sex, Sackville-West would have inherited Knole on the death of her father in 1928. Instead, following primogeniture, the house and the title passed to her uncle, a loss she felt deeply. In 1930, after she and Nicolson became concerned that their home Long Barn was threatened by development, Sackville-West bought Sissinghurst Castle. On purchasing Sissinghurst, Sackville-West and Nicolson inherited little more than some oak and nut trees, a quince, and a single old rose. Sackville-West planted the noisette rose 'Madame Alfred Carrière' on the south face of the South Cottage even before the deeds to the property had been signed. Nicolson was largely responsible for planning the garden design, while Sackville-West undertook the planting. Over the next thirty years, working with her head gardeners, she cultivated some two hundred varieties of roses and large numbers of other flowers and shrubs. Decades after Sackville-West and Nicolson created "a garden where none was",[5] Sissinghurst remains a major influence on horticultural thought and practice."
Further Information:
Address:
Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Biddenden Road, Near Cranbrook, Kent, TN17 2AB
Email:
sissinghurst@nationaltrust.org.uk
Phone:
01580 710100.
Website:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/sissinghurst-castle-garden
https://www.facebook.com/SissinghurstNT/
Opening Hours:
Opening times vary, please see website or contact directly before your visit. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden#Opening%20times
Admission charges: See https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden#Prices
Directions:
Situated 3.1 miles from Cranbrook via The Hill, Golford Road, Chapel Lane, and left onto an unanmed Road to Sissinghurst Castle Garden. OS TQ 808383.
2026: "By road:
Transport:
Best travelled to by car.
For more travel information go to http://www.traveline.info or call 0871 200 22 33.
2026: "By train
Arriving by Taxi
Amenities:
See https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst-castle-garden#Facilities%20and%20access
Baby Changing Facilities
Toilets
Shop and tea room on site. Closest amenities can be found in Cranbrook.
2026: "Bookshop
- CaféCar park: Car parking is free for National Trust members. If you are not a member, car parking is £4.50 and can be paid at Visitor Reception.Coffee shop
Our coffee shop has reopened and is located near the car park, next to our plant shop. Please visit our Opening Times for the daily opening hours.
Dogs allowedDogs on leads are welcome around the wider estate but are not allowed in the formal garden or the vegetable garden. If you wish to enter the garden with an assistance dog or another guide animal, please speak to Visitor Reception. See https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/sissinghurst-castle-garden/dog-walking-at-sissinghurst-castle-garden
Electric vehicle charging point8 22kw electric vehicle charging points are available in bay 1 of main car park. Chargers can be accessed using mobile app, RFID card, or contactless payment device. Visit our EV charging provider RAW Charging’s website (rawcharging.com) to download the app in advance of your visit. Chargers are only available during property opening hours.
Electric vehicle charging point - more informationGuided tourPlease visit our Events section for more information on garden and property tours.
Plant shopRestaurantDogs are not allowed inside the restaurant but are allowed in the outdoor seating area.
ShopTea-roomToiletToilets and disabled toilets are available next to Visitor Reception and the Restaurant."
Natural Play Area
4H7M+WH
Cranbrook
TN17 2AB
Travel Information
For further travel information please see: www.traveline.info
Or call Traveline on 0871 200 22 33
(Calls cost 12p per minute plus your phone company's access charge)
Location
Nearest Venues
Trinity Church, Sissinghurst, Kent
1,482 metres*
1,520 metres*
St Dunstan's Church, Cranbrook, Kent
2.35 miles*
2.37 miles*
2.38 miles*
*Distances are calculated in a straight line from the current venue, please allow extra time/distance based on available paths or roads.