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The seasons, the weather, and the time of the day all help to ensure that a garden never looks quite the same as when you last visited it.

But few are subject to quite the forensic examination of their evolving appearance as that bijou masterpiece which is Denmans Garden – located just off the A27 between Fontwell and Chichester.

Sky Landscape Artist finalist Sue England has been working there for one year, interpreting the changing seasons, and this month-long exhibition in various media is a vivid and compelling impression of all that she has witnessed.

The stunning Denmans Garden near Chichester, West Sussex - the inspiration for a new exhibition by artist in residence Sue England. Free admission until October 20, 2022.

"This exhibition is all about the relationship between an artist and this wonderful space called Denmans Garden,” she said. “And the experience of working here for a year in multiple lights and weather zones and times of the year has been extraordinary. This is a culmination of all those experiences with my art.”

This exhibition, pitched perfectly in the naturally-lit portal to Midpines Cafe, does not merely explode with colour but through tone and form it captures something of the very soul of Denmans.

This is a garden which in so many ways should never have existed.

But passion, patience, perseverance and the extraordinarily brave and talented people who have and still love it, have created a four acre oasis of sheer tranquillity and beauty where none might otherwise have survived given its proximity to road and racecourse.

Exhibition - A Year At Denmans Garden. Artist in residence Sue England (left) and Gwendolyn van Paasschen (right), a garden designer and writer who owns Denmans Garden.

The late John Brookes MBE, was one of Britain’s most influential landscape designers, and Denmans Garden remains an enduring, evolving testimony to his genius.

It features dry riverbeds, gravel gardens, a walled garden, a conservatory, and unusual plants, all moulded with a contemporary eye after having been originally converted from market garden to ornamental garden by plantswoman Joyce Robinson who embarked on the vision in 1970.

The exhibition is free to visit.

There is a charge to wander the gardens and the John Brookes Lecture 2022 ‘Art and the Garden’ will be on Sunday October 9 4-5.30pm, tickets £8/£10.

For more information https://www.denmans.org/

How the extraordinary magic of one of Sussex's finest gardens has inspired a compelling new exhibition