英国莱昂纳德利湖园 Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens – 英国一级登录历史园林

庄园由来

莱昂纳德利庄园（Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens）在英国西萨塞克斯郡霍舍姆区的 Lower Beeding 村，落在西威尔德高地的核心地带。园林从 1801 年算起，Charles George Beauclerk 当时买下这片土地，宅邸与庭园也从那时起慢慢成形。1852 年地产转到 Hubbard 家族手里，今天这座意大利式宅邸 1855 年落成。1889 年，维多利亚时代的植物采集者 Sir Edmund Loder 从姻亲手中买下庄园，大批种入杜鹃花、杜鹃、山茶和外来树种，园子的面貌就此定下。

宅邸与湖区

庄园占地 240 英亩，一条谷地把七个人工湖串在一起。这些湖跟当地早年的采铁业有关，19 世纪后期又开凿和扩大，如今成了步道的主要景观。谷地东侧是宅邸和山茶小径，西侧是 1890 年前后由 James Pulham & Sons 建造的岩石园。园里用天然石料和人工的 Pulhamite 石拼出山石，最早种的是 Sir Edmund 收集回来的蕨类和高山植物。

林地与季节

酸性砂岩土加上背风的谷地，适合杜鹃花、山茶和木兰生长。每年 3 月到 6 月，杜鹃花、山茶、映山红和蓝铃花接连开放，Dell 里那株十九世纪种下的 Cornish Red 杜鹃花高约 35 英尺，是园中的老树。夏天老树成荫，秋天红叶黄叶映在湖面上，冬天雾中的树形轮廓和湖边水鸟是主要看点。园中登记在案的冠军树超过一百株，1889 年引入的沙袋鼠和鹿群也生活在林地和草地上。

杜鹃花收藏与官方认可

庄园最有名的是 Loderi 杂交杜鹃花。Sir Edmund Loder 从 1901 年开始杂交，六年后第一批杂交种开花，此后陆续育出三十多个杂交种，他 1920 年去世后家人接着做。2022 年，Plant Heritage 把这里的 Loderi 杂交种列为国家植物收藏，共 42 个杂交种，其中 17 个只有在莱昂纳德利才能看到。2023 和 2024 年，园里的杜鹃 The Dowager 和 Leonardslee Primrose 连续两年拿到 Plant Heritage 濒危植物评选的公众选择奖。2025 年，园艺主管 Jamie Harris 因保护和栽培这批杜鹃花，获英国皇家园艺学会杜鹃、山茶与木兰组的 A J Waley 奖章。整片园林 1984 年列入英格兰历史公园与花园名录，为一级登录，宅邸 1973 年列为二级登录建筑。

游览安排与园内设施

园子每天开放，分旺季和平季两档时间，圣诞节当天关门。RHS 合作花园日按月份排在淡季，门票、活动和季节开放时间详见园方网站。除步道和湖景外，园里还有雕塑园和美术馆，常年陈列 Surrey Sculpture Society 的作品；Beyond the Doll’s House 展览用细做模型还原一座爱德华时期的庄园。餐饮、花园商店和植物中心都在入口一带，Leonardslee House 的客房和 Clocktower Kitchen 餐厅把参观行程延伸到住宿和用餐，庄园酒庄的起泡酒 2024 年开始出产。

官网: https://www.leonardsleegardens.co.uk/

Estate history

Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens sits at Lower Beeding in the Horsham district of West Sussex, inside the West Sussex High Weald National Landscape. The gardens date from 1801, when Charles George Beauclerk bought the land and began laying out the house and grounds. The estate passed to the Hubbard family in 1852, and the present Italianate house was finished in 1855. In 1889 the Victorian plant collector Sir Edmund Loder bought the property from his relatives and planted large numbers of rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias and exotic trees, which set the character of the garden.

House and seven lakes

The estate covers 240 acres, with seven man-made lakes strung along the valley. The ponds relate to the area’s earlier iron industry and were enlarged and dug out again in the late nineteenth century; they are now the backbone of the walking routes. The house and Camellia Walk sit on the eastern side of the valley, while the rock garden on the west was built around 1890 by James Pulham & Sons. Natural stone and artificial Pulhamite rock were combined to create the outcrops, first planted with the ferns and alpines Sir Edmund had collected.

Woodland and seasons

Acidic sandstone soil and a sheltered valley suit rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias. From March to June rhododendrons, camellias, azaleas and bluebells open in turn, and the Cornish Red rhododendron in the Dell, planted in the nineteenth century, still stands about 35 feet tall. Summer brings shade under the old trees, autumn sets red and gold leaves against the lakes, and winter is the time for misty tree outlines and waterbirds. More than a hundred registered champion trees stand in the grounds, alongside the wallabies introduced in 1889 and a herd of deer.

Rhododendron collection and recognition

The Loderi rhododendron hybrids are the garden’s best-known collection. Sir Edmund Loder started hybridising in 1901; the first crosses flowered six years later and he went on to raise more than thirty hybrids before his death in 1920, after which his family carried the work on. In 2022 Plant Heritage granted National Plant Collection status to the Loderi hybrids here: 42 hybrids in all, of which 17 are found only at Leonardslee. In 2023 and 2024 the rhododendrons The Dowager and Leonardslee Primrose took the People’s Choice award in Plant Heritage’s Threatened Plant of the Year competition in two consecutive years. In 2025 head gardener Jamie Harris received the RHS Rhododendron, Camellia and Magnolia Group’s A J Waley Medal for his work conserving and cultivating the collection. The garden was entered on the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens at Grade I in 1984, and the house was listed Grade II in 1973.

Visiting and garden facilities

The gardens open daily with separate peak and off-peak hours and close on Christmas Day. RHS Partner Garden days fall in the quieter months, and tickets, events and seasonal hours are listed on the garden’s own website. Beyond the walks and lakes there is a sculpture park and art gallery with work from the Surrey Sculpture Society, and the Beyond the Doll’s House exhibition, which builds a miniature Edwardian estate in remarkable detail. Refreshments, the garden shop and plant centre are near the entrance, while the rooms at Leonardslee House and the Clocktower Kitchen extend a visit into overnight stays and meals. The estate vineyard began producing sparkling wine in 2024.

Official Site: https://www.leonardsleegardens.co.uk/