Sheffield Park and Garden is a 120-acre landscape garden in East Sussex that Capability Brown laid out in the 1770s for the 1st Earl of Sheffield, and that Arthur Soames reshaped after 1909 with the rare trees and shrubs behind its reputation for autumn colour. Four lakes step down the valley, and reviewers call it more park than garden, with miles of made and unmade paths, a tree canopy that keeps things cool in a heatwave, rhododendrons scenting the air in late May and water lilies on the lakes from June. Many plants are labelled, and dogs are welcome along set routes. Tips from regular visitors: the cafe in the old coach house sits the opposite way from the garden entrance, so eat before or after rather than mid-walk, and some paths are unsuitable for wheelchairs and pushchairs. Parking is first come, first served in autumn, and the Bluebell Railway is just over the road.
