Nettlestead Place is set in the valley of the River Medway just where the river has cut its way through the Greensand Ridge. The gardens are on different levels on the west side of the valley and afford fine views of the river and surrounding farmland. The site is believed to be very ancient and borders a prehistoric trackway which followed the south side of the crest of the Greensand Ridge and crossed the river by a ford. Nettlestead Place is a manor listed in the Doomsday Book (1086) and the Saxon origin St. Marys Church is immediately adjacent.

In 1921/22 the medieval house was refurbished and enlarged, and the basic structure of what is now the inner part of the gardens, including the large sunken pond and the rose garden, was established.

The gardens declined during and after the second world war, but the gardens' potential remained evident. The great hurricane of 1987 was a wind of change when 46 mature trees were lost. This was a challenge! It was decided to take the gardens seriously, and since 1988 the gardens have been both redeveloped and greatly extended.