Easter Egg Hunt and Luxury Dine and Stay in Horsham, West Sussex
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Visitors to Mannings Heath Estate in Horsham, West Sussex, can enjoy an Easter Sunday Lunch and Egg Hunt on April 9th, 2023. The three-course lunch is served between 12:00 and 15:00 at £32.50 per adult and £16 for children, with a complimentary Easter egg hunt.
Guests can also book an Easter holiday stay on the 500-acre estate at Fuller’s Cottage, which dates from the 17th century, in this area of outstanding natural beauty.
Just three miles away, sister estate Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens is planning an afternoon tea with classic and savoury menu options and a range of chocolate Easter treats, from April 6th until 16th. This can be enjoyed with a glass of sparkling 'Joie de Vivre' MCC from the owner’s vineyard at Benguela Cove Lagoon Wine Estate in South Africa.
Chef Jean Delport’s Michelin Starred team at Restaurant Interlude in Leonardslee House offers a multi-course tasting menu for dinner in the evening. Guests are welcomed in the ornate hallway of the 19th century Italianate mansion by a self-playing piano, before enjoying cocktails and a first course in the bar. They are then seated in the dining room for an evening that promises a culinary adventure of some 18 courses, with many ingredients foraged from the woodland estate.
Guests can also book the Michelin Star Getaway special for Easter for two people. This includes two nights’ accommodation in one of the ten luxury bedrooms at Leonardslee House, each created by a top British designer, with dinner at Restaurant Interlude on the first night’s stay.
Guests are greeted with a three-course breakfast the following morning, prepared by the Michelin-Starred team. and can then leisurely explore the 240 acres of the Leonardslee estate and its Grade I Listed gardens. The offer also includes a classic afternoon tea for two with a bottle of sparkling wine from Benguela Cove, for £1,250 for two people.
A new 'Hide & Sheep' trail this Easter at Leonardslee brings to life the much-loved character Shaun the Sheep, developed by Aardman, the creators of Wallace & Gromit.
Visitors can enjoy the natural beauty of the Grade I Listed woodland gardens as they follow the trail and discover markers along the way, from 25th March until 23rd April. Using a bespoke app, visitors can then reveal Shaun in augmented reality hiding out in a farmyard scene and pose alongside him, capturing their family day out to share with family and friends.
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Editors notes
Leonardslee Lakes and Gardens is a family-owned vineyard estate, near Horsham in West Sussex, which features ‘the finest woodland gardens in England’, Grade I Listed, as well as a Michelin Star restaurant and luxury vineyard accommodation.
The 240-acre estate was established by Sir Edmund Loder, the great Victorian plant collector, and now includes a Sussex Wine vineyard, with the first release of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier sparkling wine in 2024.
The estate features outstanding displays all year round. In the spring this includes rhododendrons, azaleas, camellias, magnolias and bluebells. The collection is exceptional in its diversity and maturity, with several rare ‘champion’ trees, threatened in their natural habitat.
The gardens offer a protected ecosystem for rare wildlife such as Emperor Dragonflies and Damselflies, White Admiral and Purple Hairstreak butterflies and migratory and native birds - Kites, Great Tits, Tree Creepers, Nuthatches, Woodpeckers and Nightingales.
The estate reopened in April 2019, following acquisition and two years’ intensive work by entrepreneur Penny Streeter OBE to restore the woodland gardens after eight years of closure and neglect under previous ownership. It was the largest garden restoration project in the United Kingdom since Heligan 30 years before.
Since further restoration work in 2021, visitors can also stay in the luxury vineyard hotel after dining at Restaurant Interlude in Leonardslee House, the Grade II Listed Italianate mansion house, to experience the Michelin Star multi-course tasting menu created by chef Jean Delport.
Visitors can view a magical world in miniature at the Beyond the Doll's House exhibition, which depicts the Edwardian estate and neighbouring villages at 1:12 scale. They can then enjoy a classic afternoon tea in the mansion house, making for a great family day out. It is one of the top places to visit in Sussex and is open all year round except Christmas Day.
For great days out, there is an extensive programme of entertainment that includes winter garden illuminations and light trails, wine and beer festivals, photo and art exhibitions, live music events, cooking and gardening demonstrations, arts and crafts fairs, modelling and toy shows, and children’s events and adventure trails.
Vineyards –
Leonardslee Estate: Acquired 2018 - 3.1 Acres - 2018 First vines planted - 4,000 Estimated bottles Experimental planting of Pinotage - 2022 First estate Pinotage
Mannings Estate: Acquired 2017 - 34 Acres - 2017 First vines planted - 70,000 Estimated bottles Sparkling wine cultivars 60% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir and 10% Pinot Meunier - 2024 First release of wine
