Lepe Hampshire hotels:

A spectacular 200-acre woodland garden, world famous for the Rothschild collection of rhododendrons, azaleas & camellias. Steam Railway and Summer Lane Garden (summer flowering) now open. Features include a bridge, tunnel, viaduct, causeway and Exbury Central Station. Excellent facilities for disabled visitors together with Gift Shop, Plant Centre and Tearooms. Lionel de Rothschild was a fanatical collector, along side his breeding work with Rhododendrons he also collected rare trees and shrubs. The breadth of his knowledge is reflected in the collection we can admire today. Specimens were selected to compliment the Rhododendrons and given the space to mature. The renowned expert and Curator of Kew Gardens, William Jackson Bean and author of ‘Bean’s Manual of Trees and Shrubs’ was a regular guest and advisor. A further bonus for Lionel when purchasing Exbury was that it had been owned by a branch of the Mitford family since the early eighteenth century. They had planted several exotic tree species, including a Cypress grown from a seed fallen from the Duke of Wellington’s funeral cortage! They had also planted several Cedars in Glades which gave the Garden structure right from the start. These giant veterans survive today and are used each night by the roosting peacocks!