Visiting the Tulip Festival at Pashley Manor Gardens

Pink-purple tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

A year ago today, I saw a post on Instagram about the tulip festival at Pashley Manor Gardens in East Sussex and I knew that I absolutely had to go. After a year of planning and looking forward to it, we finally went today and it was every bit as exquisite as we expected.

The house at Pashley Manor

The history of Pashley Manor is quite fascinating. The house above, with its original Tudor facade, was built in 1550. Almost a century before, Anne Boleyn's great-grandfather Sir Geoffrey Boleyn had owned Pashley. The original house was located on a moted island (which you can still explore) and was most likely a hunting lodge.

Hare sculpture at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

The tulip festival runs each year at the end of April and beginning of May. This year, the festival is running from April 19 to May 3 and an impressive 46,000 tulips have been on display.

Yellow and red variegated tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Naturally, I lost all semblance of self-control on entering the grounds of Pashley Manor and tried to take photos of each and every single tulip.

Yellow tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Red and yellow variegated tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

The grounds at Pashley Manor Gardens are exceptionally well kept. We loved walking around, choosing hidden paths, crossing bridges and spotting new things to see.

Orange flame tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Bright pink tulips with a fountain to the left and Pashley Manor in the background

This was one of my favourite views of the day, with the right pink tulips in the foreground and the fountain and Pashley Manor in the background.

Bluebells at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

While we were exploring, we were delighted to see a sign for the Bluebell Walk. I thought I'd missed bluebell season this year, so this was a big treat.

Pink tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Sculpture, bluebells and daffodils at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Pashley Manor is home to a large collection of sculptures and most pieces are for sale. The exhibition changes every year, which is exciting because Pashley Manor also has multiple festivals a year, including a rose festival every June.

Cherry blossoms at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Deer sculpture at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Stephen had a lot of fun using the Picture This app to find out what many of the trees were. We tried it on a yew tree, with their bottle-brush branches, as well as on azaleas, camellias and other plants.

Pashley Manor in the background, viewed over the tulip festival in the foreground

This was my second favourite view of the day: Pashley Manor in the background with tulips curving in front.

Bright pink tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

White and pink flame tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens in front of the gate to the walled garden

We'd walked around the walled garden, down the Bluebell Trail and alongside the stream but we finally came to the gates of the walled garden.

Coral tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Bluebells and purple flame tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Our entire visit had been beautiful and life-affirming but the walled garden was something else entirely.

White tulips with pink edges at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Purple tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

As I stood there, I realised how loud the birdsong was in the garden. It was really moving and beautiful to hear how the garden walls seemed to amplify their calls.

Orange and red variegated tulips at Pashley Manor Gardens tulip festival

Pashley Manor Gardens
Ticehurst
Near Wadhurst
East Sussex
TN5 7HE

Tickets for the tulip festival cost £15 for adults, £6 for children aged 6-16 and children under 6 go free.


This is the part where I apologise for being scarce this year and I don't even know where to start! Work was super busy from January to mid-March and again since we returned from South Africa. It's been great for my career but not so great for my personal and social life. It seems to finally be calming down now and I can't wait to tell you about all the adventures we've been on in the past six months.

4 comments on "Visiting the Tulip Festival at Pashley Manor Gardens"
  1. The display looks stunning.

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  2. The tulip festival runs each year in April-May in a _very_ Tudor British manor. So it is interesting that the festival focused on flowers that I would have normally considered typically Dutch. The flowers are spectacular, both in colours and shapes, so I am not surprised that visitors flock by their thousands.

    How successful is their rose festival every June?

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    Replies
    1. Agreed! I thought I'd need to travel to Holland to see a tulip festival of this magnitude, so this was a real treat.

      I don't know how successful their rose festival is - but the tulip festival was very well-attended and we were grateful we'd gone early in the morning.

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