Trading Boundaries : Furniture, Accessories, Textiles

Local Attractions

For colourful displays of the natural kind, head for the 6,500 acre Ashdown Forest where the purple hues of flowering heather in spring turn to the warm russet reds of autumn. One of the few remaining areas of lowland heath left in Europe, Ashdown Forest was once a royal hunting ground of both Edward III and Henry VIII and it was here, according to local legend, that the latter met Anne Boleyn.

Over the years, the Forest has provided the setting and inspiration for many a story including some of the Sherlock Holmes novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, whilst AA Milne captured the imagination of children across the world by writing about his son, Christopher Robin, and his friendship with a certain Pooh Bear.

Places to visit include our close neighbours the National Trust Sheffield Park Gardens, the Bluebell Steam Railway and Heaven Farm, as well as the Ashdown Llama Park, Barnsgate Manor Vineyard, and Borde Hill Gardens. If historic houses appeal then a must see is Hammerwood Park, the first house of architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe . Latrobe’s work later took him to America where Hammerwood was inspirational in his design for the portcullis of the White House. Also Standen House is a fine show-piece of the late 19th-century Arts & Crafts Movement, featuring rich William Morris textiles and wallpapers, complemented by contemporary furniture, ceramics and pictures of the time.