In 1878 George Ferguson Wilson, businessman, scientist, inventor and keen gardener, purchased the site and established “The Oakwood Experimental Garden” with the idea of growing difficult plants successfully. Soon the garden was renowned for its collection of lilies, gentians, Japanese irises, primulas and waterplants. Despite changes since then, it is still true to his original concept. 

In 1903 on the death of Mr Wilson, Sir Thomas Hanbury bought the estate and presented it in trust to the R.H.S. With his eminent botanist brother Daniel, he was the founder in 1867 of the celebrated hillside garden of La Mortola, on the Italian Riviera (with which the R.H.S. remains closely concerned).