Exbury Gardens
Photo: Steve Daniels / CC BY-SA 2.0, modified.
Overview
Exbury Gardens is a large informal woodland garden on the edge of the New Forest, created from 1919 by Lionel Nathan de Rothschild. It is one of Britain’s major woodland gardens, especially noted for its collections of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and magnolias. Historic England describes Exbury as a Grade II* registered park and garden, while the Rothschild Archive states that Lionel bought the estate in 1919 because its gentle climate and acid soil were ideal for rhododendrons.
History
Lionel de Rothschild bought the Exbury estate in 1919 and developed the gardens over the following decades as a large-scale woodland garden. Exbury’s own history describes the project as one of the most ambitious garden enterprises of the twentieth century, covering about 250 acres and focused on rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias and other shrubs and trees. The gardens opened to the public in the early 1950s; since 1988 they have been operated by Exbury Gardens Ltd on a long lease from the Rothschild charitable trust.
Design features
The garden is primarily a woodland and plantsman’s garden, with glades, ponds, rock garden areas, specialist plant collections, seasonal flowering displays and riverside / woodland walks. Japanese or Japanese-associated elements include Japanese maples, Japanese azaleas, East Asian rhododendron material and a Japanese bridge, but these do not amount to a separate classical Japanese garden composition. Britain Express notes Japanese bridge features among the garden’s architectural focal points, while Historic England presents Exbury mainly as a woodland garden rather than a Japanese garden.
Garden elements
Bridges
Waters and islands
Current status
Extant Grade II* registered woodland garden and public visitor garden, famous for rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias and other woody plant collections. Exbury is not a distinct formal Japanese garden; its Japanese relevance is mainly through Japanese and East Asian plant collections, Japanese maples, azaleas, rhododendrons and ornamental features such as a Japanese bridge. The gardens have been open to the public since the early 1950s and have been run by Exbury Gardens Ltd since 1988. Today Exbury operates as a major public garden and steam railway attraction within the Rothschild estate.