Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway (Hampshire, England) – Lionel de Rothschild's Centenary Woodland Garden of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Camellias

Exbury Gardens & Steam Railway, located on the northern shore of the Solent in the New Forest, Hampshire, England, is one of Britain's finest private woodland gardens. The 200-acre (approximately 80-hectare) estate was purchased in 1919 by Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882–1942) from Lord Forster, who personally designed and oversaw its transformation into a celebrated woodland garden featuring rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias, and companion plants suited to the unique microclimate of the Solent coastline. After Lionel's death in 1942 and a wartime requisition of Exbury House by the Royal Navy (which operated it successively as HMS Mastodon, HMS King Alfred, and HMS Hawke, supporting D-Day preparations), his eldest son Edmund de Rothschild ("Mr Eddy") restored the gardens and continued the rhododendron hybridising programme. In 1955 Edmund opened the gardens to the public as a charitable trust, ensuring their preservation for posterity.

A Century of Horticultural Enterprise

Lionel de Rothschild began the ambitious enterprise in 1919 by employing some 150 labourers and 60 specially trained gardeners (some sources cite up to 250 workers) to clear woodland, improve the soil, and construct infrastructure that included a 120-foot water tower, 22 miles of underground irrigation piping, 26 miles of pathways, and two acres of glasshouses for propagating new introductions. On 23 April 1923, only four years into construction, the celebrated plant hunter Frank Kingdon-Ward wrote to the Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh declaring that Exbury Gardens would become "the eighth wonder of the world"—a description that has endured ever since. From 1924 onward, Lionel financed plant-hunting expeditions into the Sino-Himalayan region, sourcing seed from collectors including George Forrest and Joseph Rock in Yunnan and southwest China, and from other expeditions to the eastern Himalaya and Southeast Asia. World War II halted further development; in January 1942 Lionel died, and in May 1942 the Admiralty requisitioned Exbury House for landing-craft personnel training in support of the Normandy invasion. After the war, Edmund restored the gardens and continued the hybridising work, opening them in 1955. A freak hurricane in October 1987 destroyed roughly a third of the mature tree cover. In 2000, Lionel's youngest son Leopold de Rothschild built a 1.5-mile narrow-gauge steam railway. In January 2019, the Centenary Garden—designed by Lionel's great-granddaughter, landscape architect Marie-Louise Agius—was opened by the then Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) to mark the garden's centenary.

Plant Collections and Garden Features

Exbury is internationally renowned for its world-class rhododendron and deciduous azalea collections, with more than 1,000 cultivars and hybrids on display in spring, including the famous Solent range of deciduous azaleas developed by Lionel in the 1920s–1940s and continued by Edmund in the postwar period. The camellia collection extends along two dedicated Camellia Walks approaching the Connoisseur's Garden, with magnolias framing the woodland margins and providing a spectacular March-April display. The garden floor features erica, daphne, and other Ericaceae. In autumn, plantings of Nyssa (tupelo) and Acer create vivid red, orange, and gold foliage; in the garden's lower margins, the Nerine collection—overseen by Lionel's great-grandson Nicholas de Rothschild, President of the Nerine and Amaryllid Society—represents one of the world's largest outdoor Nerine plantings. Specialised garden areas include the Iris Garden, Herbaceous Border, Sundial Garden, and Centenary Garden, with 26 miles of pathways traversing the 200-acre site. The gardens are open to the public daily from early March through 31 October.

The Steam Railway, Hospitality, and Visitor Information

The Exbury Steam Railway, known as "The Rhododendron Line," was completed in 2001 as a 1.5-mile (2.4 km), 12¼-inch (311 mm) gauge narrow-gauge railway encircling the upper garden. A complete circuit takes approximately twenty minutes, with views across the Rock Garden, a tunnel, a bridge, and Dragonfly Pond; the station is modelled on Aviemore Station in Scotland and seats up to 90 passengers. Beyond regular scheduled services, the railway hosts seasonal events including the Halloween Ghost Train and the Christmas Festive Express, and offers paid experiences such as the Footplate Experience (£495, one-to-one tuition in driving a steam locomotive) and the Ride with the Driver (£50, two full circuits from the driver's footplate). Catering is provided by award-winning local caterers The Little Kitchen Company, operating Mr Eddy's Restaurant, the Old Tennis Courts outdoor café, the Potting Shed, Rhodo Pizza, and Charlotte's Little Ice Cream Kitchen. The gardens are open daily from 10:00 to 17:30 between early March and 31 October; last admission is 16:30 and the last steam train typically departs at 15:00. Adult day-ticket prices range from £14.50 to £18.00 depending on season (with a £1 Universal Credit / Benefit-holder concession available by online booking). Exbury operates as a charitable trust, with admission and membership income funding ongoing garden maintenance, plant conservation, and public education.

Website: https://www.exbury.co.uk/