Rottingdean: Kipling’s Gardens are a hidden gem in the village

Kipling’s Gardens, in The Green, Rottingdean, are well hidden as they are surrounded by flint walls.

Named after the village’s most famous resident, The Jungle Book writer Rudyard Kipling, these gardens are a haven of colourful plants and wildlife.

There is a rose garden, woodland garden and a croquet lawn (Image: Claire Andrews/The Argus Camera Club)

There is also a woodland garden and croquet lawn there.

The gardens were originally in the grounds of The Elms, the country house which Rudyard Kipling rented between 1897 and 1902. Rudyard Kipling wrote many of his Just So stories in the house, which is now privately owned.

Rottingdean Preservation Society stepped in to rescue and restore the gardens in the early 1980s after they became overgrown and in 1986 the site was formally handed over to the council.

Claire Andrews spotted a rose chafer, an iridescent beetle, in Kipling’s Gardens (Image: Claire Andrews/The Argus Camera Club)

Camera club snapper Claire Andrews took some gorgeous shots of the colourful plants in the rose garden.

As well as vibrant alliums and cornflowers, Claire spotted a rose chafer, an iridescent beetle, perched on one of the plants.