He had travelled widely in Asia and developed the garden as a "wild" landscape with natural plantings inspired by Chinese and Japanese practice.

[2] In 1919, the estate was sold by Lord Redesdale to cover death duties to Sir Gilbert Wills, an heir to the W.D.

During the Second World War the area became overgrown and neglected but after he inherited the property in 1956 the 2nd Lord Dulverton restored the garden and returned it to its former beauty.

In 1992 the 2nd Lord Dulverton died and left the Arboretum to the Batsford Foundation which is a charitable trust which promotes research and education into conservation, arboriculture, gardens and architecture.

[4] Apart from the arboretum, the remainder of the 5,000-acre (20 km2) historic Batsford Estate is privately owned by Michael Wills, 3rd Baron Dulverton (born 1944).

Towards the end of his life, Lord Redesdale, as he became in 1902, wrote his memoirs and described his garden and the significance of the Buddha statue, the bronze deer and the Rest House which he brought here in 1900 and are still in the Arboretum.