Selsfield Road, Ardingly, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

The Many Waters Estate is situated in the heart of Sussex, with excellent access to the M23, London, the south coast and local towns. The house sits in an extraordinary private wooded valley completely surrounded by its own land.

The estate is situated between the villages of West Hoathly and Ardingly, some five miles north of Haywards Heath and about 40 miles from central London and 20 miles from the south coast at Brighton.

It lies on the east side of the B2028 Haywards Heath/Turners Hill road, nearly opposite Wakehurst Place, which is part of Kew Gardens. There is a frequent train service from London Victoria to Gatwick airport, taking about 30 minutes or Haywards Heath about 45 minutes. Gatwick airport is only about ten miles away and the M23 and M25 provide easy access to Heathrow and the motorway network of the country.

The Many Waters Estate could possibly be described as unique in this part of southern England. An award winning house is set in a private wooded valley and approached by a wonderful, long sweeping drive. Flanking the house are a chain of lakes and waterfalls, giving the house light and space and yet completely hidden and protected by the steep sided wooded valley in which it sits. The topography, combined with the mature woodlands, provides a wonderful protected landscape, with the woodlands being a particular feature of the estate, providing both amenity, environmental and timber value.

Many Waters House
Many Waters House is an exceptional contemporary property nestled into the Sussex countryside, providing extreme comfort in an outstanding position, whilst all the while being a stone’s throw from central London. The five bedroom house, constructed in the early 21st century, sits in the heart of the estate at the end of a long drive. Constructed over three floors, the property comprises: reception hall, kitchen/dining room, office, playroom, plant room, boot room, cellar and utility room. On the first floor is a library, large spacious drawing room with a balcony overlooking the dining room below, and a door to the delightful, covered terrace, which wraps around the house. On this floor, the principal bedroom has a dressing area and large shower room, a secondary bedroom, family bathroom and third bedroom with en suite shower room. On the second floor, there are two further bedrooms and a shower room. The property is light and spacious, with floor to ceiling glass windows in the kitchen/dining room up to the eaves, as this room has the void above. The windows look out over sloping lawns to a cascading waterfall and stream. There are charming views from nearly every window over the gardens, lakes and woods beyond. The house is in excellent condition and offers wonderful space for entertaining, both inside and out.

Gardens and Terraces
The gardens at Many Waters were designed by Mr Andy Sturgeon. In the front of the house, a delightful lake fringed by shrubs and mature trees is fed by a distant waterfall and incorporates a wonderful stone grotto. To the rear of the house, a series of terraces are connected by paths and steps, with each providing areas to sit and relax, eat and play. To the side of the house, and enclosed by a hedge and set into the side of the valley is the small kitchen garden.

Annexe and Garage
Just a short distance beyond the house, is a timber-faced building, providing garages, stores and a catering kitchen on the ground floor and on the first floor, a wonderful spacious flat, which could be utilised in many different ways and is currently used for entertaining guests. It comprises a sitting room, small galley kitchen, large dining room/ bedroom and a bathroom.

Stone Wood Cottage
This delightful cottage was built about nine years ago and is subject to an agricultural and forestry occupancy condition. It sits in the south-west corner of the estate and has a short private drive, giving it access directly onto the Ardingly/ Turners Hill road. Its location on the western ridge of the valley gives it stunning views south and east across the top of the estate to the hilltop fields in the near distance. The cottage accommodation comprises a large kitchen/dining room, sitting room, utility room, office, boot room and two cloakrooms on the ground floor, with four bedrooms, a bathroom and a shower room on the first floor. It was well constructed and sits beautifully in its own fenced and lawned gardens. To the side of the cottage is a small grass paddock and a hard estate track leads down through the woods, providing direct access throughout the estate without the necessity to get on the public highway.

The Land and Buildings
Much of the estate is classified as a Grade II Listed park, and is set in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The estate also includes a significant area classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a further area as an Ancient Monument. This is all hardly surprising, when perhaps the best way of describing this extraordinary hidden wooden valley, is a prehistoric environment with ancient rocks and caves, cascading lakes and waterfalls, ancient woodland, rare trees and shrubs, streams, a 40 acre hilltop field, far reaching views, sun-dappled paths, incredible fauna and flora and excellent private internal estate tracks. This is a special landscape of sublime beauty, which captures the imagination and as a visitor said it ‘Sends one away with a feeling that one has been in a special place’. At the heart of the estate and well accessed by estate tracks, is an enclosed timber barn, utilised for the storage of machinery and equipment. There is also planning consent for a new agricultural and forestry building in the field next to Stone Wood Cottage (Planning ref: DM/25/1826).

Sporting and Recreation
There are bridlepaths running directly from the estate, providing riding, mountain biking and walking, with further riding (by permit) on nearby Ashdown Forest. Golf at Royal Ashdown Forest Golf Club, near Forest Row, and the East Sussex National near Uckfield, Haywards Heath and Piltdown. Racing at Plumpton, Brighton, Goodwood and Lingfield. Fishing, sailing and water sports at Ardingly and Weirwood Reservoirs and along the south coast. There are theatres at Brighton and Crawley and the opera house at Glyndebourne near Lewes.