The Garden Media Guild, of which I am a proud member, arranges visits for its members and whilst I cannot get to all of them the recent visit to Hill Close Gardens in Warwick was not one I was going to miss.
I remembered I had seen about these gardens when Monty Don visited back in the day. They sounded fascinating. The gardens were started in the 1840s in a field owned by Mr Wilson. He divided the field into detached gardens that he rented out to local families. There is little room in the centre of Warwick for gardens so the store-owners and people who lived in the town could rent these gardens that overlook the racecourse. The land was 5 acres and split into 32 plots. The site was sold about twenty years later and bought by Mr Phillips, who sold off the plots one by one. This created a multi-ownership site that turned out to be its saviour. As time passed some of the side areas were sold to be housing. In the 1950s the Council started buying the plots and it took them over 40 years to acquire the whole site because of the multitude of separate owners. They originally intended to build housing here but the local people who knew its value took action and the remaining half of the original site was saved. A team of very dedicated volunteers cleared the gardens and started work on restoring them. The site is now listed and they have used lottery money to create a visitor centre.
The plots are all quite different, some are quite formal,
Some are more relaxed.
You are drawn along the paths to discover more and more.
There are pigsties,
ornate sheds,
and the fabulous hexagonal summer houses.
which look so cosy, what a great space they are.
There was so much to enjoy,
One of the old pigsties has been converted into this brilliant small museum.
and the stories of the families that owned the plots are spread throughout the gardens.
There are lots of apple trees throughout the gardens, most planted in the early 20th century and many are now regarded as heritage varieties. They sell the apples to visitors as there are many, many apples and also send the left over apples to be made into juice. It is a small charity that runs the gardens and they have to raise money to keep themselves going. They run events and rent out their visitor centre meeting room. This year in particular they have a target to raise £50,000 as it is now 30 years since the first big restoration was started. This means that a lot of what was done then is now needing attention.
They have a plant sales area where they sell plants propagated on site. This is Rose John Gwilliam, small flowers and a mighty scent. I nearly did not buy it, I nearly walked away: but of course I did not. It was a good price and the money goes to a great cause - I did of course say 'keep the change', every little bit helps as they say. I have potted the rose on and it will eventually get planted into the garden but I am not sure where yet. I also took cuttings as this is a heritage variety; I could not find it on sale elsewhere so it feels right to keep the rose going by having a spare or two.
and that you access the gardens through Bread and Meat Close is a joy. Where I come from is known locally as Bread and Lard Island, but that as they say is a whole other story....
