Nymans

In the late 19th century, soon after purchasing Nymans, Ludwig Messel commissioned his brother to redesign the Georgian villa, adding a large conservatory, a tower and other Victorian ornamentation. After his son Leonard inherited in 1915, the house again underwent a transformation, this time in the style of a medieval manor, envisaged by his wife Maud as her ‘dream house’. The furnishings complemented the architecture, with fine oak furniture, tapestries, silver and Old Master paintings. Leonard and Maud also developed the garden Ludwig had created, together with their head gardener James Comber, collecting rare plants and old roses. The house was visited by fellow gardeners including Ellen Willmott and William Robinson, as well as artists and actors introduced by Oliver Messel, son of Maud and Leonard. In the winter of 1947, the house caught fire, destroying the main rooms and many of the family’s possessions, including their rare and valuable botanical library. Part of the house was later rebuilt, but most was left as a ruin, providing the garden with an architectural centrepiece of romantic antiquity.

Nymans, West Sussex

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The collection reflects the romantic taste of Maud Messel and features many of the furnishings rescued from the fire that destroyed the house in 1947, including antique oak furniture and 17th-century tapestries. Works by artist and theatre designer Oliver Messel include theatrical props from his various productions, as well as sketches of the house and garden at Nymans and portraits of Merle Oberon and Natalie Paley. Although the outstanding botanical library was lost to the flames, there remains a significant collection of garden books, including A Garden Flora by Muriel Messel, published in 1918, which details all the plants grown at Nymans. The garden ornaments include classical statues, a Byzantine urn and Roman funerary altars.

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