Sunken garden at White Lodge

A sunken garden, built around 1923-1924 to the designs of Sir Edwin Lutyens for his patron, Lady Victoria Sackville in the grounds of her house, White Lodge, Roedean, Brighton.

MATERIALS and PLAN: the surrounding retaining walls and terrace walls of the sunken garden are of rubble stone brought to course with planting gaps between individual blocks. The pavements and steps are of Portland stone with slates used on edge as infill. The site is roughly 26m to the south of White Lodge and set into the slope which runs downwards, away from the house, towards the chalk cliff edge and facing the sea. The garden is on line with the facade of the house and measures approximately 23.5m from east to west and 7m from north to south and is roughly rectangular in outline.

DESCRIPTION: the rectangular garden consists of a surrounding retaining wall to each side, made up of rubble stones brought to course with gaps for planting. These retaining walls include terraces to the longer sides and there are two sets of stairs to the northern side with Portland stone treads included in the rockwork. Photographs taken in 1927 show that there were originally gravel paths along the east, west and south sides of the sunken garden. These have now been turfed over, but a square inlayed stone pavement to the centre of the southern side remains in place, from which a flight of shallow steps of Portland stone with risers formed of layered slates gradually increase in size as they descend to the largest, central pavement of the sunken area. This is rectangular and further flights of similar shallow steps lead to lower, square pavements at east and west. Each of the four pavements has a frame of Portland stone blocks to its outer edge. Similar blocks form the borders of decorative panels at the centre of each pavement. These are circular at either end with flat, circular centres of Portland stone. The central pavement has three overlapping squares placed diagonally. Infill of the panels is with slates placed on end at varying angles to create a variety of patterns and colouration. To the far east and west ends are extensions to the square pavements forming stands for benches. These have central diamond-shaped stones with slates on edge surrounding them and at either side are panels of cobbles set in concrete.