Five Fascinating Halloween Facts

Rumour has it the witches are making their way back to occupy their Haunted House in the depths of the Garden and cause all manner of mischief. We’ve unearthed five fascinating Halloween facts to help us prepare for their arrival!

1.       The Halloween traditions that we celebrate today have been influenced over time by four very different festivals:

·         The Roman ‘Pomona’ festival, which honours the Goddess of fruit trees (we pay tribute to Pomona with apple bobbing at Halloween)

·         The Roman ‘Feralia’ festival, commemorating the dead

·         The Celtic ‘Samhain’ festival, with the harvest marking the end of the growing season and the beginning of the cold and dark winter months

·          The Catholic appointment in the 8^th Century of a special date for the feast of All Saints called ‘Alholowmesse’. The night before was called “All Hallows Even” which was eventually shortened to ‘Hallowe’en’ and finally to ‘Halloween’ as we now know it

2.       The Celts believed the dead visited the living on “All Hallows Even” and would wear masks so the spirits of the dead would not recognise them

3.       Orange and black have become the designated colours for Halloween because:

Orange =  harvest

Black = darkness and death

4.       The tradition of carved pumpkins (also called Jack O’ Lanterns) originated in Ireland. Candles were placed in hollowed-out turnips to keep away evil spirits and ghosts

5.       Legend says that if you see a spider on Halloween it is the spirit of a loved one watching over you

Who will dare to enter the Borde Hill witches’ lair and reach into their bubbling cauldron to pull out a treat…or a trick? Be warned – enter the Ghost Tent and emerge as a vampire, skeleton or witch! Turn your hand to something scarily creative and make a ghoulish mobile to take home. Brave explorers should head on down to the Adventure Playground with its zip-line, balance beams and rickety rope bridge.

Spooktacular fun is happening daily between Wednesday 24^th October and Sunday 4^th November 2012 inclusive, with all Halloween activities included in the admission price. Come and dare to be scared!!!

Top 3 outdoor things to do in Sussex during the Summer Holidays

With the School Holidays in Sussex underway and the kids in need of entertaining, here are the top 3 outdoor things to do to keep them amused. The bonus being the living room stays tidy!

The activities have been inspired by Borde Hill Garden in West Sussex, who are running a Summer Holiday Quiz through to 9^thSeptember 2012 with fantastic prizes to be won. 

1. Make a bark rubbing 

The colour and pattern of bark can help you identify a tree. Make a record of your own; grab some paper, wax crayons or chalk and find yourself a tree. Place the paper on the bark and rub the crayon or chalk lengthwise across the paper. Create a textured picture by rubbing a different coloured crayon or chalk across the same piece of paper held at a different angle each time.

2. Calculate the age of a tree 

Locate a tree stump – there’s plenty in the woodland at Borde Hill Garden or in the Adventure Playground. You’ll see there are rings running around the inside. You can count the number of rings to work out the age of the tree. Remember that most trees produce two rings per year, a light ring in the Spring and a darker one in Summer. The oak tree on the South Lawn of Borde Hill House is approximately 200 years old!

3. Find out who's Champion 

There are 82 Champion Trees in the grounds of Borde Hill, making this one of the largest UK private estate collections. The Tree Register of the British Isles has over 150,000 Champion Trees registered on it. Only the tallest or those with the widest girth make it on to this database, which aims to record and preserve rare, unusual and historically significant trees in the UK countryside. Let’s find the Champion in your group! With the Adventure Playground as the assault course, see who’s the quickest at balancing on the beams or sliding down the pole. And the winner is……!!!

 Borde Hill Garden in West Sussex is open every day from 10am to 6pm and is located  1½ miles north of Haywards Heath, just off the A272 and 20 minutes from Brighton and Crawley.

To find out more about the Summer Holiday quiz (running daily to 9^th September) and the prizes to be won, visit www.bordehill.co.uk/quiz. Or call 01444 450326. 

Mystery in Stone - becoming a bit less of a Mystery as the sculptures started to arrive today.

All the way from Zimbabwe and not a scratch on them ( other than the chisel marks of course).

Looking forward to Saturday 28th when they are all in place and you guys can come and see them all. Meanwhile see our press release...

I'll keep you posted ( well blogged at least).

Easter Sporting Bunny Trail 19 March -19 April 2012 - now extended

Calling all 3-11 year olds! Come and have fun at this year's Easter Bunny Trail throughout the holidays from 19 March to 19 April. 


This year the trail has an Olympic theme and each bunny is associated with a sporting activity. Every child who discovers all of the colourful bunnies hidden around the historic Garden, then solves the word or picture puzzle will be rewarded with a delicious chocolate egg.

Everyone can also enjoy the glorious collection of camellias, magnolias and rhododendrons, all magnificent at this time of year. There will also be thousands of spring-flowering bulbs and plants making an impressive display in the formal gardens and acres of tranquil woodland.

If the kids still have energy to burn, keep them busy exploring the fascinating adventure playground with its climbing frames and zip line.

Cosy Café Elvira beckons with morning coffee, delicious home cooked lunches and Sussex cream teas, while for lovers of arts and crafts, The Green Tree Gallery is just the ticket.

Friends of Borde Hill Garden Special Opening 9,10, 11 March 2012

We will be opening our doors for the new season exclusively to past and prospective Friends of the Garden on 9, 10 and 11 March.

Visitors will be able to enjoy the spring bulbs, magnificent magnolia displays and the numerous camellias, as well as the many changes and enhancements made over the winter months to increase the colour, charm and family appeal of our award winning, Grade ll* listed Garden, Park and Woodland.

The Italian Garden, one of the tempting ‘living rooms’ for visitors to linger recently restored with new spring bulb planting and scented shrub hedging to enhance its formality and elegance. The playground is an exciting, challenging and stimulating play area, where children can have fun or let off steam in acres of parkland.

Friends’  membership is  an Annual Ticket with unlimited times to visit the Garden and the Playgound and free entry to all the events except musical and theatrical;

£25 for an adult and £15 for a child. A family of four (2+2) £65, a family of five (2+3) £75, giving you great savings for the family. Click here to become a Friend.

General Garden Opening Times 2012: 10^th Mar – 9^th Sept and 24^th Oct – 4^th Nov 2012, daily 10am – 6pm (or dusk) and Weekends only in September and October.

Snow at Borde Hill

Wonderful snow scenes at Borde Hill!