Sissinghurst Castle - National Trust

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Sissinghurst Castle - National Trust Historic, poetic, iconic: a refuge dedicated to beauty. Historic, poetic, iconic; a refuge dedicated to beauty. We welcome feedback – both positive and negative.

Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson fell in love with Sissinghurst Castle and created a world renowned garden. House rules: ​

We want our page to be a place where people can share how they feel about the National Trust and talk about their experiences in a fun environment. It helps us to learn and grow. These house rules aim to ensure everyone can enjoy themselves while they’re here: ​

We ask you to be nice and polite to one another – you almost always are! - and respect each other’s views and comments. We ask all users to ensure your contributions are civil, polite, tasteful and suitable for all ages. We won't tolerate disruptive, offensive or abusive behaviour, unlawful or objectionable content. This includes any material which might be defamatory, offensive, infringing, obscene, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, insulting, threatening, harassing, discriminatory, blasphemous, indecent or otherwise unlawful or objectionable. It also includes any material which is aggressive, argumentative or likely to be construed as bullying, and it includes spamming or repetition - in particular the posting of off-topic material in subject-specific threads or areas. ​
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*Moderation policy* ​
In general, we don’t moderate posts, except on the rare occasions - for example where someone has posted offensive, threatening or libellous content about named or identifiable individuals on our page. We have a duty to protect our staff and volunteers, so while deleting comments is totally out of character for us, our position is that any post containing a libellous accusations, should be removed. We’ll also remove any posts that in any way target individual teams or members of staff. We will not comment on our staff and volunteers in this way in public forums. If any correspondent has feedback to share about any individual members of staff or teams in the organisation, please get in touch with us directly. If an individual continues to post offensive, threatening or libellous content then we’ll be forced to block that person from the page. Similarly, if any individual repeatedly posts contributions of the nature noted above in the 'material' list, we'll again be forced to block that individual from the page (in this scenario, we will have previously warned the individual about their content).​

We won’t tolerate postings, content, or links that are racist, sexist or homophobic. We also don’t permit linking to or posting any content which endorses illegal activity, or any activities against the values of the National Trust. ​
If you’re concerned that a posting or user content has broken any of our house rules or you’re worried about any comment or content then please send us an email to [generic email address] and let us know. ​

Finally, please note that the views on our page are created by our community and don’t necessarily represent the views or opinions of National Trust. ​

“All’s brown and red: the robin and the clods,And umber half-light of the potting-shed,The terra-cotta of the pots, the ...
27/10/2026

“All’s brown and red: the robin and the clods,
And umber half-light of the potting-shed,
The terra-cotta of the pots, the brown
Sacking with its peculiar autumn smell,
Musty in corners, where the cobweb panes
Filter the sun,”

— The Garden, Vita Sackville-West

To ensure our visitors get the most out of their visit during the colder months, we have swapped over to winter hours an...
26/10/2026

To ensure our visitors get the most out of their visit during the colder months, we have swapped over to winter hours and pricing until the spring.

• The Garden: 11am - 4pm (last entry 3:15pm)
• Granary Restaurant and Shops: 10am - 4pm
• Big Room (Library), Tower and Exhibition: 11am - 3:30pm

A full breakdown of winter opening times and entry prices is available on our webpage.

© National Trust Images/Megan Taylor

Grab your wellies and join us for Half-Term fun at Sissinghurst. 🍂Come pumpkin picking and carving in our Vegetable Gard...
25/10/2026

Grab your wellies and join us for Half-Term fun at Sissinghurst.

🍂Come pumpkin picking and carving in our Vegetable Garden | Bookable slots have sold out but a small number of walk-ins may be available on the day, subject to numbers | 27 & 28 October

🍂Test your skills with our autumn spotter sheet or see if you can find all the hidden wooden pumpkins in the Vegetable Garden

🍂Look out for acorns, conkers, fallen leaves and puddles around the estate

🍂Browse through our selection of sweet treats, ghostly felt decorations, and Halloween children's books

🍂Treat yourself to a hot drink, or sit down for an autumnal meal in our Restaurant

We're open 10am - 4pm, last entry at 3:15pm.

©National Trust Images/James Dobson/Eve Lynn Brogan/Paul Harris/Cassie Dickson

Escape from blustery days and travel to 20th century Italy in our new exhibition 'New Ideas and Old Loves: Sissinghurst ...
24/10/2026

Escape from blustery days and travel to 20th century Italy in our new exhibition 'New Ideas and Old Loves: Sissinghurst and Italy'.

Discover how Vita Sackville-West was swept up in the romance and history of Italy, and how it later inspired her artistic, literary and romantic tastes throughout her life.

Featuring never-before-seen objects, historic images and love letters, as well as recordings of selected works including 'The Dancing Elf' and 'Portrait of a Marriage' read by Vita's eldest granddaughter Juliet Nicolson.

The exhibition is open daily upstairs in the Oast Exhibition Space | Free with standard admission

© Vita Sackville-West photographed in Cinque Torri, Dolomites

23/10/2026

The quiet before Storm Austen arrived.

Due to high winds, Sissinghurst Castle Garden will be closed all day on Friday 23 October. This includes the estate and ...
22/10/2026

Due to high winds, Sissinghurst Castle Garden will be closed all day on Friday 23 October. This includes the estate and car park.

We will aim to open as usual on Saturday 24 October following post-storm checks.

There may be partial closures, such as the top of the Tower, over the weekend as high wind forecasts are still in place.

Please check our website ahead of travelling for opening updates.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Let your creativity flow this festive season with our series of workshops ✨📆Willow Star WorkshopsLed by Helen Garsed-Ben...
21/10/2026

Let your creativity flow this festive season with our series of workshops ✨

📆Willow Star Workshops
Led by Helen Garsed-Bennet of Handcraft with Helen | 21 November & 9 December | £40

📆Christmas Wreath Making Workshops
Led by florist Jo Russell from Eliza Artisan Floral Design | 28 November & 4 December | £60

📆Paper Monabbat-Kari Workshop
Led by artist Thurle Wright | 2 December | £50

For all workshops, enjoy festive treats, hot drinks, and a wonderful keepsake that you can be proud to display.

🔗To book your tickets or to find out more, visit our website at nationaltrust.org.uk/sissinghurst

© Thurle Wright/Helen Garsed-Bennet/Eve Lynn Brogan

Over the past few months, there have been rare sightings of a leucistic House Sparrow at Sissinghurst. Leucism is an unu...
20/10/2026

Over the past few months, there have been rare sightings of a leucistic House Sparrow at Sissinghurst.

Leucism is an unusual condition in birds in which some or all of the feathers lack their normal pigmentation. Unlike albino birds, leucistic birds generally retain normally coloured eyes, beaks and legs.

On your next visit, test your birdwatching skills and spot our unusual little visitor!

© Alan Pavey

Bee conservation work at Sissinghurst. Next week will see our resident bees in the Library, Tower and the South Cottage ...
17/10/2026

Bee conservation work at Sissinghurst.

Next week will see our resident bees in the Library, Tower and the South Cottage safely removed and moved to an apiary.

In order for this work to be carried out safely, the Library will be closed all day on Tuesday 20 October and the Tower will be closed all day on Wednesday 21 October.

Temporary scaffolding will be erected in these areas and visitors can expect sections of pathways around the scaffolding to be roped off for their safety.

We want to thank our visitors for their understanding around the closures as we move our busy little friends to their new home.

© National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

Nothing says October like a good old fashioned pumpkin. Most of these pumpkins and squashes are heirloom varieties, bred...
16/10/2026

Nothing says October like a good old fashioned pumpkin.

Most of these pumpkins and squashes are heirloom varieties, bred for centuries to improve their flavour. After harvest, they are ‘cured’ for two weeks in a greenhouse which converts their starches into sugar, making them more tasty. It also improves their storage capacity.

The good news is that if you want to display or store them for the next few months, they will become even sweeter!

These pumpkins and squashes were harvested from our on-site organic Vegetable Garden and are on sale at our Plant Shop, alongside other harvested site produce.

© National Trust Images/Cassie Dickson

National Trust South East team

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Biddenden Road
Cranbrook
TN172AB

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