CHELWOOD VACHERY

Chelwood Vachery forest garden may be considered of historical interest.  It is certainly a little different, and good to wander in, through the woodland, by small lakes, with splashes of sudden colour from rhododendrons and azaleas.  It is on the site of Vachery wood, the name likely derived from the Norman for ‘cow shelter’ (Vacherie? – the French ‘vache’ means cow). The garden was originally created for Sir Stuart Samuel, Liberal MP and banker, sometime around 1910, as a feature of his house and estate. It included four small lakes, each one with a weir and a sluice.  A ‘gorge’ was constructed for the new owner, FJ Nettlefold, in the 1920s, using limestone boulders brought from Cheddar Gorge in Somerset. Another feature is a folly bridge.  The estate became a management training centre for British American Tobacco in the 1950s, but the house is now privately owned and the woodland was acquired by the Conservators of Ashdown forest in 1994.  They embarked on a restoration project in 2008, clearing out intrusive rhododendrons conserving others, creating space for and views through oak, beech and maple and dredging the lakes.

Chelwood Vachery can be accessed from a number of car parks around Ashdown Forest; the one given is Long Car Park. It can also be reached from the small village of Chelwood Gate.