Vita Sackville West, Sissinghurst exhibition

 Vita Sackville-West was one of the C20ths most influential gardeners. In 1913 at 21 she married Harold Nicolson in Knole’s chapel in a very public marriage, and so speculation was rife among members of society and the media. Husband Harold was a diplomat and diarist, and though the couple remained happily married, they both had many affairs with same-sex partners throughout their lives.

Vita Sackville West by William Strang, 1918

Virginia Woolf by George Beresford, 1902, National Gallery

Later the couple bought Grade I listed Sissinghurst Castle in Kent in 1930, transforming the rundown estate over the decades into today’s beautiful garden.

Sissinghurst Castle Garden, National Trust Images 

For the first time in Sissinghurst, a National Trust exhibition has focused on her works: Between the Covers with Vita: Life and Literature of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst in 2025. The exhibition helped visitors explore Vita’s life and legacy, into the world of her pioneering writing exploring women’s lives, loves and identities.

Sissinghurst tower, in front of the house

Vita wanted to be known predominantly as a writer, and at the height of her career she was better known than her friend/lover Virginia Woolf. Her love affairs with women like Virginia had been well documented, and Vita’s output as a writer who explored love and identity was prolific. But in time, some of her work fell into obscurity. Today it is Virginia who is the more famous of the pair for her publications.

Although Vita had an open marriage with Harold, she was careful to conceal the identities of the women lovers who inspired her in her writing eg in the poem The Dancing Elf 1912. This was her first published work, dedicated to her first love and schoolmate, Rosamund Grosvenor, noting her sweet and ethereal spirit.

Women in Vita’s life could also be obstructive regarding her writing. Fearing a scandal from Vitas thinly veiled love affair with her lover Violet Trefusis in the book Challenge 1923, examining themes of censorship, rebellion and trans identity, Lady Sackville got her daughter’s book banned from UK sales, which incensed Vita.

Vita’s relationships with female family members were also explored in her writing, including her first novel Heritage 1919 in which leading character Ruth Pennistan was a farmer’s daughter whose striking features hinted at a heritage inspired by Vita’s own grand mother, Spanish Gypsy Pepita. Vita’s mother reacted kindly this time, writing 150+ letters of recommendation to shops and friends. The women lovers and family members who influenced her writing were explored through the Between the Covers.

Vita's handwritten notes

Hogarth Printing Press 

Vita's desk and instruments

On display were personal objects held by the author, including a book with her handwritten notes inside. 

Visitors saw personal objects such as one of Vita’s notebooks, an original watercolour design for her book The Air and a letter opener made from her grandmother's shoe. And there was an inscription in the Oxford Book of Italian verse from her mother, given to Vita Sackville-West for her birthday. On display at the exhibition was a rare copy of Devil at Westease 1947, Vita’s only murder mystery during her brief flirt with crime writing; it was published abroad but not in the UK! Her other types of writing included science fiction, poetry and novels, and she was among the first writers to create women characters with a mind of their own. Now Vita’s writing has come to be seen as pioneering in its exploration of love, sex and trans identity.

For the exhibition, the National Trust showed the original printing press called Hogarth Press, a publishing company owned by Virginia Woolf and husband Leonard Woolf. The Woolfs were committed to supporting literature, including women’s voices. Their press printed many of Vita’s works at the height of her literary career, including All Passion Spent 1931, one of her most praised and bestselling novels. It told the story of an elderly widow who surprised her family by embracing independence even after her husband’s death.

Sissinghurst was donated to the National Trust after Vita’s death in 1962, as documented in son Nigel’s 1973 book, Portrait of a Marriage. He repeated that, decades earlier, his mother’s most famous affair was with the writer-Bloomsbury Group member

For the first time in the Sissinghurst home, a National Trust exhibition has focused on her writing via her works: Between the Covers with Vita: Life and Literature of Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst in 2025. The exhibition helped visitors explore Vita’s life and legacy, into the world of her pioneering writing which explored women’s lives, loves and identities.

The exhibition also featured a series of illustrations and an animated film by artist Sarah Tanat-Jones. Her modern images reflected aspects of Vita’s life and literary legacy.

Summary Known globally for her many same-sex relationships, Sackville-West’s influence as a writer was somewhat overlooked by history. The 2025 exhibition Between the Covers mapped Vita Sackville-Wests literary journey, from her debut poem The Dancing Elf to her final novel, Sign posts in the Sea. Between the Covers took visitors right into the world of Vita’s special writing which explored the lives, loves and characteristics of women. Sackville-West was known as one of the C20ths most influential gardeners.

Many thanks to the BBC and The National Trust.