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Background information

The Victorian Pleasure Gardens at Hill Close in Warwick are a rare survival of something which was very common in the last century: a group of hedged gardens, just outside the built-up area. Each separate garden had a different owner, who would have enjoyed it at weekends and in the evenings after the close of his business. Most of the owners were prosperous shopkeepers and professional people who lived over their businesses in the town centre. Though they generally had little garden around their homes, they had the means to build the pretty brick summer houses which survive now and to grow the wide variety of fruit flowers and vegetables available in Victorian times.

Most towns would have had several groups of gardens of this type, but almost all of them have been swept away by later development; Hill Close Gardens themselves were acquired by Warwick District Council with the intention of building on them. However, their historical importance was recognised just in time, four of the pretty summer houses are now listed buildings, and the gardens have now been registered as of national importance. (Grade II*)

Restoration Project

By the beginning of 1998 they had become derelict; the buildings were in need of extensive repair, greenhouses and frames were wrecked and the paths and hedges were hidden by dense growth, like secret gardens waiting to be re-discovered.

Seven years of hard work by volunteers has seen most of the gardens cleared of their covering of bramble and nettle and the planting of lawns and the first flower borders.

The gardens are home to a venerable collection of fruit trees. Over fifty varieties of apples, pears and plums have been identified. Young trees have been propagated from them and are now being planted out in new positions.

Several Warwick schools have decided to bring groups of children to the gardens as part of their curriculum work. There is also a regular programme of activities for children, families and adults.

Funding has now been secured from Heritage Lottery Fund for full restoration of the gardens and buildings. This will enable the restoration of the summerhouses and the reinstatement of paths with a hard surface for disabled access. A new resource centre will welcome school visits and holiday activities, as well as providing for teas and research. Work is to start after our closure in October. Fundraising is continuing as £100,000 is still required for our partnership funding.

There is the opportunity for donors to sponsor some aspect of the gardens which particularly appeals to them. A replacement fruit tree would cost £25; to edge a path with Victorian edging tiles would be just £15, but we need nearly 700 metres; a metre of replacement hedging will be £12 and we need nearly 700 metres of that, too. We shall need to spend nearly £5,000 on heritage varieties of flowers, fruit and vegetables. We have eight buildings which need to be restored: three of them are listed. Each one will cost between £16,000 and £23,000.

The new education and visitor centre will need to be furnished. We need everything from chairs at £50 each, tables at about £100, right through to a cooker and dishwasher and a projector, screen and black-out blinds.

The outside wall of our education centre will be made of beautiful tiles onto which we shall engrave the names of donors of over £500.

Link to our secure credit card donations page