The walled garden is a hidden gem within the historic Sudley Estate, now a public park. The Estate comprises gardens and land, including the walled garden which was once a cutting-edge space to show off and enjoy the tropical and ornamental acquisitions of the Holt family. Just next to the walled garden is the Holt family home, Sudley House, run by National Museums Liverpool and including the original furnishings and world-class art collection. House and Estate were bequeathed by the shipping merchant family ‘for the benefit of the people of Liverpool’, ensuring the protection of the heritage assets from development. The history of the site and its legacy, deeply embedded in colonialism, will be explored in an upcoming heritage project. Having fallen into disrepair, the glasshouses were demolished, the beds grew over, and the listed walls began to crumble. Under the eternal march of brambles and ivy, the garden became overgrown and neglected. Growing Sudley has been breathing new life into the garden, with the help and support of local people of all ages.

In 2017, following a number of years of wide ranging consultations about the walled garden by the Friends of Sudley Estate, Growing Sudley was established and ran a National Lottery Awards For All project called Growing A Therapeutic Garden. We ran Therapeutic Gardening sessions for adults with brain injuries and conditions, stroke survivors and young adults with learning disabilities, and began holding volunteer sessions, forest school holiday clubs and events and activities. We built up activities slowly, using a mix of volunteers and freelance practitioners, adding new sessions each year, and constantly evolving ideas in response to people.

We used permaculture throughout, as an approach to survey, observe, analyse and observe again. This environmental and people-powered process led to a design for a therapeutic garden for health, wellbeing and play through nature, plants and herbs. Howard Miller Design worked with us and Architects Harrison Stringfellow over many workshops, design sessions and consultations with partners such as Merseycare Dementia Patient Forum, the Brain Charity and Stroke Association, as well as our many participants and volunteers, to design a space that would be as flexible and accessible as possible.

The garden has been zoned into 3 main areas: the woodland area, with coppiced hazels and fire circle, and accessible boardwalk so everyone can get into the woods; the garden area, with woven willow raised beds for therapeutic horticulture and growing healing herbs and flowers; and the meadow, surrounded by wildflowers and providing a space for qigong and yoga, as well as picnics and community events. The design enables the many different uses that have developed in the garden, and allows the space to be expand and contract flexibly to suit different needs. An edible and medicinal foraging hedge forms a boundary and windbreak and allows people walking on both sides to stop and pick. Landscaping and paths form natural shapes that define the zones of the garden, and make it more accessible to wheelchairs, scooters and people with mobility issues.

The garden development has been funded by Veolia Environmental Trust and the many years of consultation and process has been supported by The National Lottery Awards For All. Once this phase is complete, we plan to apply to the Heritage Lottery Fund to rescue the crumbling listed walls, create an accessible entrance to the car park, instal rain cover and possibly a workshop, and signage to complete the space.

During 2022, the planting in the garden zone will create a healing herb garden. We’ve been working with local medical herbalists for a number of years, running workshops and activities around health, wellbeing and nourishment through herbs. Tapping back into ancient knowledge we’ve lost, of how to use the garden and hedgerow to optimise health, offset the damage of modern lifestyles and empower ourselves through a respectful and symbiotic connection to nature’s healing plants.

If you would like to volunteer to maintain and care for the garden, please contact us.