Wakehurst and Chiddingly Woods

The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP or MSB), formerly known as the Millennium Seed Bank Project, is the largest ex situ plant conservation programme in the world coordinated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. After being awarded a Millennium Commission grant in 1995, the project commenced in 1996, and is now housed in the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building situated in the grounds of Wakehurst Place, West Sussex. Its purpose is to provide an "insurance policy" against the extinction of plants in the wild by storing seeds for future use. The storage facilities consist of large underground frozen vaults preserving the world's largest wild-plant seedbank or collection of seeds from wild species. The project had been started by Dr Peter Thompson and run by Paul Smith after the departure of Roger Smith. Roger Smith was awarded the OBE in 2000 in the Queen's New Year Honours for services to the Project.In collaboration with other biodiversity projects around the world, expeditions are sent to collect seeds from dryland plants. Where possible, collections are kept in the country of origin with duplicates being sent to the Millennium Seed Bank Project for storage. Major partnerships exist on all the continents, enabling the countries involved to meet international objectives such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations Environment Programme. The seed bank at Kew has gone through many iterations. The Kew Seed Bank facility, set up by Peter Thompson in 1980, preceded the MSBP and was headed by Roger Smith from 1980 to 2005. From 2005, Paul Smith took over as head of the MSBP. The Wellcome Trust Millennium Seed Bank building was designed by the firm Stanton Williams and opened by Prince Charles in 2000. The laboratories and offices are in two wings flanking a wide space open to visitors housing an exhibition, and also allowing them to watch the work of cleaning and preparing seeds for storage through the large windows of the work areas. There is also a view down to the entrance to the underground vaults where the seeds are stored at −20 °C (−4 °F). In 2001, the international programme of the MSBP was launched. In April 2007, it banked its billionth seed, the Oxytenanthera abyssinica, a type of African bamboo. In October 2009, it reached its 10% goal of banking all the world's wild plant species by adding Musa itinerans, a wild banana, to its seed vault. As estimates for the number of seed bearing plant species have increased, 34,088 wild plant species and 1,980,405,036 seeds in storage as of June 2015 represent over 13% of the world's wild plant species.

Wakehurst, previously known as Wakehurst Place, is a house and botanic gardens in West Sussex, England, owned by the National Trust but used and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is near Ardingly, West Sussex in the High Weald (grid reference TQ340315), and comprises a late 16th-century mansion, a mainly 20th-century garden and, in a modern building, Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. Visitors are able to see the gardens, the Mansion, and also visit the seed bank. The garden today covers some 2 km2 (490 acres) and includes walled and water gardens, woodland and wetland conservation areas. RBG Kew has leased the land from the National Trust since 1965 and much has been achieved in this time, from the Millennium Seed Bank project and the creation of the Loder Valley and Francis Rose Nature Reserves to the introduction of the visitor centre, the Seed café and Stables restaurant along with the development of the gardens. Wakehurst is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England, and its gardens are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.The stables are listed Grade II* and the South Lodge and gateway is listed Grade II.

The South of England Show is a county show held annually at its own showground in Ardingly, Sussex during June.The show was founded in 1967 and is organised by the South of England Agricultural Society, which is patronised by Queen Elizabeth II. The show attracts up to about 80,000 visitors every year.

St Peter's Church is the Church of England parish church of the parish of Ardingly in Mid Sussex, one of seven local government districts in the English county of West Sussex. The present building dates from the 14th century and was restored during the Victorian era, but Christian worship on the site has a much longer history. The stone-built, Decorated Gothic-style church, west of the village centre, has been designated a Grade I Listed building.

Philpot's and Hook Quarries is a 2.6-hectare (6.4-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south-west of Sharpthorne in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.These quarries expose the Ardingly Sandstone Member in the Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation, which is part of the Wealden Group, dating to the Lower Cretaceous between 140 and 100 million years ago. Philpot's Quarry has many dinosaur fossils and both quarries have debris dating to the Precambrian.The quarries are private land with no public access.

Ardingly Reservoir is west of Ardingly in West Sussex. The southern end is a 74.5-hectare (184-acre) Local Nature Reserve owned and managed by South East Water.The reservoir feeds the River Ouse located in West Sussex, England 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Haywards Heath. The villages of Ardingly and Balcombe are immediately to the east and north of the reservoir respectively. It was created in 1978 by damming Shell Brook, a tributary of the River Ouse which flows into the Ouse about 500m south of the reservoir. It is filled with water pumped from the River Ouse when river flows are high. The water is stored in the reservoir before being treated and distributed to consumers. The Ardingly Activity Centre provides watersports for the public including wind surfing, kayaking, powerboating, paddle boarding and dinghy sailing. The reservoir is also used by Ardingly Rowing Club.The west bank of the reservoir is private property of the Balcombe Estate but the north, south and east shores offer public rights of way and bridleways. Ornithologists are catered for with two bird hides situated on the east bank.

Turners Hill SSSI is a 0.2-hectare (0.49-acre) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Turners Hill in West Sussex. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.This former quarry exposed the Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation, part of the Hastings Beds, which dates to the Early Cretaceous between about 140 and 100 million years ago. It provided excellent three dimensional sections through the Ardingly Sandstone Member of the Formation.The site is private land with no public access. The quarry has been filled in and no geology is visible.

Ardingly ( AR-ding-lye) is an English village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. The village is in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty about 33 miles (53 km) south of London and 33 miles (53 km) east-north-east of the county town of Chichester. The parish covers an area of 3,974 acres (1,608 ha). The 2011 Census recorded a population of 1,936 an increase from 1,833 in 2001.

The Abbey of Our Lady, Help of Christians, commonly known as Worth Abbey, is a community of Roman Catholic monks who follow the Rule of St Benedict near Turners Hill village, in West Sussex, England. Founded in 1933, the abbey is part of the English Benedictine Congregation. As of 2020, the monastic community had 21 monks.

Worth School is a private co-educational Roman Catholic boarding and day school for pupils from 11 to 18 years of age near Worth, West Sussex, England. Until 2008, Worth was exclusively a boys' school. The school is located within Worth Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, in 500 acres (2.0 km2) of Sussex countryside. It is one of the three prominent Benedictine independent boarding schools in the United Kingdom; the other two being Ampleforth and Downside. For the academic year 2015/16, Worth charged day pupils up to £7,275 per term, making it the 42nd most expensive HMC day school. It is a public school in the British sense of the term.

Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The civil parish covers an area of 1,390 hectares (3,400 acres), and has a population of 1,849 (2001 census) increasing to 1,919 at the 2011 Census. The village is located three miles (5 km) south-west of East Grinstead, four miles (6 km) to the south-east of Crawley and stands on a steep ridge line at one of the highest points (580 feet above sea level) of the High Weald, where two historically important routes, the B2110 and B2028, cross.

The Chapel of S. Saviour is the chapel to Ardingly College in West Sussex, England, and is considered an example of Gothic Revival architecture. The chapel was designed by R.H Carpenter and William Slater. The foundation stone of the college chapel was laid in 1864 and finished in 1892 The chapel was dedicated to St Saviour, and built predominantly of brick. It is a Grade II listed building. The current provost is The Rt Revd Jonathan Meyrick.