Thanks to the grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund we have been digging into chalk. From 2020 to 2021, with Mackellar Schwerdt architects and builders PH Beck, we have created a new Visitor Centre and new sensory garden. The old greenhouse has been transformed by Dovetail Greenhouses. We have also made new plant beds with the help of Sussex Prairie Gardens. Meanwhile, artists Creative Waves worked with local schools to develop a new family tree trail, see the Explore Highdown tab.

We have also been digging into archives. A team of volunteers analysed Sir Frederick Stern’s plant index cards to help identify rare plants in the Gardens. During the first lockdown, researcher Hamish MacGillivray with an online team of archivists, librarians, historians and volunteers discovered some of the missing parts of the history surrounding the Sterns and Highdown Hill. You can explore some of the stories in the new Visitor Centre information panels designed by Blacker Design.