Book Talk & Lunch on Wednesday 12th November 2025
Join Sorrel Everton, former Deputy Editor of Gardens Illustrated and acclaimed garden designer Annie Guilfoyle for a talk and lunch at Gravetye Manor on Wednesday 12th November. The historic country house hotel, once home to renowned garden writer and designer William Robinson, will host this introduction of The Contemporary Garden, Phaidon’s newest publication that celebrates and showcases the greatest contemporary and most innovative gardens from more than forty countries spanning the globe.
This beautifully curated volume showcases the work of internationally renowned designers such as Piet Oudolf and Sarah Price, alongside pioneering studios including Terremoto and Reed Hilderbrand. The collection includes iconic public gardens such as the High Line in New York City and Singapore’s Changi Airport Garden, as well as private gems including a dreamy hillside garden in Morocco by Umberto Pasti and Anna Wintour’s elegant garden in upstate New York by Miranda Brooks.
The book’s selection of gardens was overseen by Sorrel and Phaidon’s commissioning editor Victoria Clarke and then reviewed by an international panel of experts, including Richard Aitken, Michael McCoy, Paul B. Redman and Annie Guilfoyle, who personally contributes an inspiring introduction, reflecting on how gardens have evolved over the past thirty years and the profound ways green spaces shape our lives.
Guests are invited to arrive at Gravetye Manor for 10.30am for tea and coffee, before the talk begins at 11.00am. A three-course lunch, cooked by Gravetye Manor’s Executive Chef Martin Carabott and team, will follow at midday, served at shared tables in the glass-fronted dining room, overlooking the estate’s gardens.
Tickets are £170 per person and includes tea or coffee on arrival, the talk, a three-course lunch with drinks, and a copy of The Contemporary Garden.
Last week Gravetye Manor retained its two Michelin Keys for 2025, confirming its status as Sussex’s most outstanding hotel as awarded by the Michelin Guide inspectors.
For more information and to secure a place, please visit
here or call 01342 810 567.
