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Transform the Walled Garden,Croydon

Friends of Park Hill Park & Recreation Ground By Friends of Park Hill Park & Recreation Ground

Help revitalise the Victorian Walled Garden into an enjoyable and fully accessible space at the heart of Croydon’s communities, championing horticultural and creative activities promoting wellbeing.

Croydon Delivery stage

164
backers
£31,480
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 11 Aug 2019!

Together we'll create a sympathetic redesign of the Victorian Walled Garden,formerly part of the kitchen garden for the Horniman family home,celebrating Croydon’s diverse communities The new design’s landscaping will feature safe, fully accessible pathways to the garden ‘rooms’, innovative planting, decorative borders, handmade tiled walls, and performance space. This stage will be used for small scale performances of poetry, spoken word, dance, music and art exhibitions as well as for unique outdoor community gatherings. The new garden will enhance the whole community's social, physical and mental wellbeing by enabling the disabled, elderly and young families, as well as the wider community, to enjoy and be immersed in nature, biodiversity, outdoor learning and the therapeutic benefits of gardening within a unique setting. This is the 1st stage towards creating a horticultural education and arts centre using the Walled Garden and its surrounding buildings in central Croydon.

What we'll deliver:

  • Create new durable, disabled access pathways in the walled garden
  • Build a performance space for the Peace Garden with seating
  • Buy specimen plants, herbs, and flowers for the Walled Garden

Why it's a great idea:

Since 2014 the Friends of Park Hill Park volunteers have been working together to create a community garden in a previously neglected space. The positive impact we’ve made has seen volunteer numbers and visitor’s increase each year, encompassing a broad spectrum of people from across the borough, making us one of the most vibrant and active community garden projects in Croydon. During this period we have run a number of cultural festivals and gardening events and we recognise that, sadly, families with pushchairs, the disabled and the elderly are unable to fully participate due to the lack of safe pathways and infrastructure. Our aim is to provide safe, comfortable access into the garden to all elements of the community making it a cross-cultural, intergenerational and fully inclusive space. Having held events in the garden we know that by creating a specific performance area we will be able to attract a wider spectrum of visitors to this forgotten gem.

Steps to get it done:

  • Commission a full typographical survey of the walled garden Sept/Oct 2019
  • Formal technical drawings based on our current design & the site survey - date depending on outcome of survey
  • Commission contractor or contractors to plan paths and performance space in consultation with volunteers
  • Lay paths in The Peace Garden - by April/May 2020
  • Build the performance space - by April/May 2020
  • Lay paths in the two herb gardens- by April/May 2020
  • Replace the paths and edging in the Flower Fairy Garden- by April/May 2020
  • Replace the paths and edging in the Potager Garden- by April/May 2020
  • Buy specimen plants and herb plants- by May 2020
  • Celebration event! June 2020

This project is phase 1 of 3 to create a hub in the park for Central Croydon, promoting wellbeing through horticulture, learning, music and the arts, with a performance area and studio spaces for local artists and craftspeople. ‘Transforming the Walled Garden’ is phase 1 and is a standalone project. Phase 2 - We aim to renovate and bring into the 21st Century the historic Pavilion, currently open to the elements, subject to anti-social behaviour, but still being used by the community for yoga and shelter. The redesigned space will be used for educational classes and workshops encompassing the walled garden and creating a safe social space for local youth. Phase 3 - Our group has submitted a community asset transfer request of the Rangers Station, currently used by council maintenance teams. Our vision is to redesign the current building adding a number of adapted shipping containers to create an educational hub, & low-cost workshop/studio spaces for local artists and craftspeople.

Location Croydon

About the space

The park is a few minutes walk from East Croydon train & bus stations. Trams stop at East Croydon train station. At 16 acres, it runs from Barclay Road to Coombe Road beside the railway, is opposite the Croydon Law Courts and close to the Fairfield Halls.

Council

London Borough of Croydon

How will the money be spent?Target (inc. fees)  £29,993

Performance Space - £7,760
Medicinal Garden( Wellbeing 1) - £4,140
Culinary Garden ( wellbeing 2) - £4,140
Peace Garden - Disabled Access paths - £3,600
Potager garden - disabled access paths - £3,446
Specimen plants, shurbs & flowers - £2,000
Topographical Survey of the Walled garden - £1,728
Flower Fairies garden - disabled access paths - £1,338

Costs Breakdown

This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.

Performance Space
£7,760
Medicinal Garden( Wellbeing 1)
£4,140
Culinary Garden ( wellbeing 2)
£4,140
Peace Garden - Disabled Access paths
£3,600
Potager garden - disabled access paths
£3,446
Specimen plants, shurbs & flowers
£2,000
Topographical Survey of the Walled garden
£1,728
Flower Fairies garden - disabled access paths
£1,338

Overfunding

This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:

  • Commission a feasibility study to look at possible lighting & electricity in the walled garden.
  • We would improve the benches and create more seating areas in the walled garden.
  • We would buy arbours to further define the entrances to each of the current 'garden rooms'.
  • We have just been given permission to take on the final 'garden room' within the walled garden. We plan to make this a World Heritage Garden celebrating the diverse cultures living in Croydon creating 12 small pocket gardens, each dedicated to a different cultural group. At this stage, we are looking to obtain an estimate of costs at a similar design to that of the Peace Garden but without the central performance space.

Target (inc. fees)  £29,993

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.
  • We are looking to local companies or organisations who may wish to support us as part of their corporate social responsibility. We can offer physical activities related to gardening or creative activities such as painting additions to our mural.
  • We would like donations of herb cuttings or herb plants to increase our varieties for the culinary and medicinal herb garden 'rooms.' Also any heritage varieties would be welcome.

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