Vineyard tours and tastings
Events | Wine  
Visit a vineyard all year round.
West Dean College of Arts and Conservation has an international profile for conservation and arts education and it was established by Surrealist patron and poet Edward James, in his former home in West Sussex. Today it welcomes students on 400+ short courses and degree programmes in arts, conservation, and design.
Set in the heart of the South Downs countryside in West Dean Gardens with a restaurant, it offers a vibrant calendar of events, from author and artist talks to exhibitions and connects people with a rich heritage of creative possibility.
Photo: Chris Ison
The hugely-popular West Dean Fine Art Summer Show runs each July. Showcasing original work by emerging artists on the Graduate Diploma and MFA programmes, the show features a diverse range of practices, with work in a variety media including sculpture, installation, printmaking, painting, film, ceramics, and textiles.
Photo: Chris Ison
Photo: Chris Ison
Throwing pots with Tanya Gomez. Photo: Chris Ison
Sculpting with plaster with John Blakeley. Photo: Chris Ison.
Events | Wine  
Visit a vineyard all year round.
Story  
Get under the skin of Sussex and uncover its lesser-known stories with these extraordinary experiences and places to visit, as recommended by Secret Sussex author Ellie Seymour.
Wine  
New for 2022, a hop-on-hop-off bus service has launched between several Sussex vineyards, allowing visitors to explore England’s wine region at their own pace.
Overnight | Accommodation | Landscape | Wine  
The vineyard vacay is on the rise. A growing number of Sussex vineyards also offer overnight accommodation for guests who’d prefer to linger on, in a range of accommodation styles ranging from tipis to luxurious lodges and even a hobbit house.
Art  
Newlands House is a new gallery inspired by the historic associations of Petworth and Sussex with great artists, writers, and designers from times past.
Wine  
Adderley Pelly, Vineyard Manager at Stopham Estate, gives us a peek into her daily routines and the rhythms of the wine year.
Events | Art  
The arts festival that asks us to look again.
Landscape  
Firle Beacon, with fantastic views across the sea, sits high above the village of Firle in the South Downs National Park. The Beacon is home to a Neolithic tomb, and can be accessed using one of the many footpaths leading up from the village.
News | Wine  
Alison Nightingale, the force of nature behind Albourne Estate, gives us the inside line on what’s happening in English wine. And it seems sparkling wine isn’t the only story in town.