Exbury Gardens has embarked on a two year project to restore a ‘long forgotten’ area of the attraction

A LONG forgotten area of Exbury Gardens is set to be restored and reopened to the public as part of celebrations to mark the attraction’s 70th anniversary.

The six-and-a half-acre site has been virtually untouched for decades, dating back to the time when Exbury was requisitioned by the Royal Navy in WWII. The two-year project will restore public access and uncover the rare plants and trees, glades and vistas it contains, originally created in the 1920s when the garden was established.

The visitor attraction is world renowned for its collections of rare plants, including spring-flowering rhododendrons and azaleas, acres of ornamental and native woodland, and beautiful herbaceous gardens.

To mark the 70th anniversary of Exbury’s first public opening, visitors will soon be able to follow a new garden trail, spotting the unusual trees, landmarks and horticultural treasures, celebrating seven decades of the attraction.

Sharing his excitement for the launch of the lost garden project, Exbury’s head gardener Tom Clarke said: “This section of the garden was originally planted in the 1920s by Lionel de Rothschild, a visionary horticulturist, and contains some truly magnificent specimens of trees, and many beautiful flowering shrubs.

“During the war years much of the 200-acre garden was neglected, and when Lionel’s son Edmund was handed back the keys in 1955, he was faced with a very different garden to the one he’d grown up in. Edmund needed to kick-start the restoration of the gardens, and faced with the monumental task of bringing it back to life he opened the gates to the public for the first time.

“This restoration represents one of the final pieces of the original gardens to be reinstated. Over the next couple of years, we’re really looking forward to uncovering and sharing its hidden botanical treasures with visitors,” he added. “We hope to add another layer to the gardens’ already rich history for the benefit of generations to come.”

Seventy years ago, in spring 1955, Edmund de Rothschild first opened Exbury Gardens to the public, sharing the horticultural legacy that began in in 1919 with his father Lionel de Rothschild, a passionate plantsman described as “a banker by hobby but a gardener by profession”.

Lionel had begun creating one of the finest woodland gardens in the country, but this came to an abrupt halt when he died in 1942. The gardens were requisitioned by the Admiralty, along with Exbury House which became known as HMS Mastodon, with the site playing an important role in the planning of D-Day. In 1955 when the overgrown gardens were finally returned to the de Rothschild family, the decision was made to welcome visitors for the first time.

Part of Lionel’s original garden included this six-and-a-half-acre site, and although large sections of Exbury have been transformed to their former glory, this ‘lost corner’ has remained unrestored, and inaccessible to visitors since the war.

Exbury Gardens is open daily until 2nd November 2025. For more details and tickets visit www.exbury.co.uk