Set in three and a half acres, the garden has a lake with a pair of swans, moorhens and ducks, a large shady wood and a beautiful walled garden full of roses, lavender, hollyhocks and extravagant herbaceous borders.

Described by the English Garden magazine as 'quite one of the most delightful gardens I've visited', Bankton Cottage is not to be missed.

It has been included in this year's Good Gardens Guide, one of only a handful of Sussex gardens to be so honoured.

At heart it's the perfect cottage garden with the fragrance of roses filling the air, flowers flopping out of their beds and onto the paths, and plants growing where they decided to seed themselves.

And yet you know it's been very carefully and lovingly planned when you come across the colour and foliage combinations and the structure of the parterre and serpentine yew hedges.

There's so much to see and admire that you'll be glad, finally, to sit quietly and enjoy the homemade cakes and strawberry teas.

Bankton Cottage, Turners Hill Road, Crawley Down, RH10 4EY (1 mile N of Turners Hill on B2028) is open Saturday July 12, 2pm–5.30pm, adults £3.50, children free.

For more information about the National Garden Scheme visit www.ngs.org.uk

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