Black Narcissus

[Steve Crook]

Just heard on the news, Leonardslee gardens in Sussex, which were used for the "exterior" scenes in Black Narcissus (1947), are up for sale - complete with the mob of wallabies that live there



See BBC News for the news report and the gardens themselves.



They're open every day from April to October and when the weather brightens up a bit I was planning on going down there to scout around and see if we could organise a "BN picnic"



Steve

[alan gowdy]

It's a beautiful place that will be especially worth a visit in just a few weeks when the rhododendrons (of which it has an abundance) are in flower.

[Steve Crook]

It's a beautiful place that will be especially worth a visit in just a few weeks when the rhododendrons (of which it has an abundance) are in flower.

Yes, it was started by an old British Raj, Indian colonial type who retired back to Blighty but wanted to remember some of the plants he'd liked in India. He had married into a family that owned that particular plot of land and set up the gardens there at the end of the 19th century, finding that part of Sussex was particularly suited to some of the "exotic" plants he brought back. It's been run by the Loder family for 5 or 6 generations but now the next generation have other interests.



Steve

[alan gowdy]

Yes, it was started by an old British Raj, Indian colonial type who retired back to Blighty but wanted to remember some of the plants he'd liked in India. He had married into a family that owned that particular plot of land and set up the gardens there at the end of the 19th century, finding that part of Sussex was particularly suited to some of the "exotic" plants he brought back. It's been run by the Loder family for 5 or 6 generations but now the next generation have other interests.



Steve

Hopefully whoever buys it will carry it on as a publicly-accessible garden. We took our children there on several occasions when they were young. The wooded pathways and the lakes are a delight.

[stevie boy]

Just heard on the news, Leonardslee gardens in Sussex, which were used for the "exterior" scenes in Black Narcissus (1947), are up for sale - complete with the mob of wallabies that live there

See BBC News for the news report and the gardens themselves.

They're open every day from April to October and when the weather brightens up a bit I was planning on going down there to scout around and see if we could organise a "BN picnic"

Steve

I am up for a picnic, would love meet all you guys and gals

[Steve Crook]

I am up for a picnic, would love meet all you guys and gals

If it's a Black Narcissus picnic then you'll have to come dressed as Mr Dean in the short shorts - or as a nun



I'll volunteer to be the wise old man who sits serenely on the hill while the young ladies queue up to feed him and who sits there placidly as all the craziness goes on all around him







I've been developing the belly for it



Steve

[christoph404]

If it's a Black Narcissus picnic then you'll have to come dressed as Mr Dean in the short shorts - or as a nun



I'll volunteer to be the wise old man who sits serenely on the hill while the young ladies queue up to feed him and who sits there placidly as all the craziness goes on all around him







I've been developing the belly for it



Steve

BN Picnic sounds good, and I can make further use of my nuns outfit which normally gets an airing at "The Sound of Music" sinagalongs...

[stevie boy]

If it's a Black Narcissus picnic then you'll have to come dressed as Mr Dean in the short shorts - or as a nun



I'll volunteer to be the wise old man who sits serenely on the hill while the young ladies queue up to feed him and who sits there placidly as all the craziness goes on all around him







I've been developing the belly for it



Steve

He ain't heavy, he's my Buddha

[alan gowdy]

Still for sale a year later:



Property Details - New House, Leonardslee Gardens, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 - Savills Estate Agents



Let us just hope that when it is sold the new owner is not some mega-rich tycoon who closes it to the public.

[julian_craster]

Black Narcissus location sold for £5 million





Visit NOW - before you are locked out !



One of Britain's most famous gardens, Leonardslee in West Sussex, has been sold for close to £5 million.



DT:

Leonardslee: one of Britain's top gardens sold for £5m - Telegraph



By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor

25 Feb 2010



The 225 acre estate, famed for its rhododendrons, azaleas and wallabies – who

help keep the lawns trim – has been sold to an unnamed eastern European

businessman, who intends to shut the gardens to the public.



After more than a century of the public being able to admire the beautiful

flowers and unusual animals, the doors will close at the end of June. The sum

paid is understood to be close to the £5 million asking price. It has been on

the market for over 18 months with Savills estate agents.



Though a home is attached to the gardens, it is not the original manor house,

which has been turned into offices. Instead, a relatively modest six bedroom

family house is the only major property to be part of the sale.



The star attraction is the garden, which has been – until now – in the hands of

the Loder family since 1889. Built on acidic sandstone soil, it is renowned for

the splendour of its rhododendron plantings overhung by tree magnolias, many of them dating back to the 19th century.



Robin Loder, the great grandson of the Sir Edmund Loder who built the original

garden, said: "It is a huge responsibility to look after a garden of this size.

Holidays were something we've never had. One needs to do other things in life.



He said the new owner had fallen in love with the garden, especially the

wallabies "which have been used as ground maintenance staff since my great

grandfather introduced them in 1889. They are ideal – they find the

rhododendrons toxic, have soft, padded feet, and fertilise as they go along."



He added: "I am very hopeful that the garden will continue to thrive. It may not

be open to the public, but it has a hold on people. The new owner may find he

feels the need to share it."



The gardens are just one of 163 listed in England and Wales. However, this

status does not give them statutory protection. In theory any owner could chop

down all the trees. Local planners are obliged, however, to consult English

Heritage before granting permission for projects such as a new greenhouse or a house.