Highdown Gardens

Josie Gilbert
Mar 18, 2016
2 min read

As a child I lived in Angmering, which was a small village in West Sussex, nestling half way between the South Downs and the English Channel. Since then the village has spread and to my mind at least, lost its character. The old heart of Angmering, with its flint houses and cluster of small shops, is now surrounded by bland housing estates, that are sprawling southwards towards East Preston and also extending sideways in both directions.

During school holidays and at weekends we often walked to Highdown, which is the highest hill in our area at 266 feet. Occupation of the site began in the Bronze Age, when an enclosure was built and this was followed by a hill fort in the Iron Age. A Saxon cemetery was subsequently inserted into the fort and the grave goods discovered during excavations there are now in display in Worthing Museum. These include a very attractive glass vessel.

Later the hill was used for chalk extraction, which was then converted into lime, to be used on local fields. A number of disused pits are still visible, although they are becoming overgrown.

Sometimes we would simply walk to the top of the hill and then return home, but at other times we carried on further and visited Highdown Gardens.

One of the rockpools in Highdown Gardens

In 1909 Sir Frederick Stern began converting one of these chalk pits into a garden. After his marriage in 1919 he and his wife settled down in the adjoining house and became famous gardeners. Sir Frederick was awarded his knighthood in 1956 for his services to horticulture.

Part of the spring planting, showing the daffodils

To begin with he experimented with his planting, trying to find plants that suited the chalky site, which in places has very little topsoil. He gradually discovered which ones were successful and bred a number of hybrids himself. These include Rosa Highdownensis, which is still grown in the gardens. Sadly it is not in bloom at this time of year.

Hellebores grow particularly well in the garden and are at their best in the spring.

Following the death of Sir Frederick, the gardens were given to Worthing Borough Council, who continue to maintain them and keep them open to the public, in accordance with Sir Frederick's wishes.