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Sissinghurst is the site of a stone manor house built in Elizabethan times. It was replaced by a splendid mansion built by the Baker family. Sir John Baker was Chancellor of the Exchequer who lost much of his large fortune during the Civil War when he backed the wrong side. The building subsequently deteriorated and was even used as a prison camp for French prisoners of war. Eventually two thirds of it was demolished.
In April 1930 Vita Sackville-West came to view the 'castle' with her son and immediately fell in love with Sissinghurst, buying it with 400 acres of the surrounding farmland.
In the first two years Vita and her Husband Harold Nicolson, she a plantsman and him a designer, made a complete plan for the garden that has never really changed. Now more than 70 years later their vision of a truly English garden is enjoyed by thousands of visitors every year having been carefully conserved and renewed by the National Trust since taking over the property in 1967.
The White Garden is the most famous garden within the walls of Sissinghurst Castle and is still one of the most talked about gardens in the world. It is the most heavily visited garden each year in England. The subtle interplay of silver to green leaved plants juxtapositioned against a white range of flower colors that include pure white, cream, vanilla and soft pastels is magical.