Nantwich Walled Garden

Hidden away, yet close to the centre of Nantwich, there is an ancient walled garden dating back to the early 17th century. The garden consists of about half an acre of land surrounded on three sides by Grade II listed walls.

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The garden was once a part of Townsend House, built between 1575 and 1580 by Richard Wilbraham. His descendants lived there for the following two centuries.

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Records of the garden indicate features such as an arbour and a carved stone lion, bee boles on the south wall and an orchard.

John Gerard, Nantwich-born botanist (c1545-1612) and creator of ‘Herball’ or ‘Generall Historie of Plantes' (1597), references the Wilbraham family in his work. Nantwich Gin is strongly inspired by Gerard’s work and his part played in our local history.

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Over the years, the garden appeared to remain largely intact, the addition of a timber-framed summer house, lean-to buildings and a greenhouse detailed on an 1851 OS Map of Nantwich. The garden is thought to have been cultivated until the 1970s, then used for grazing until 2001. The garden and adjacent farmland were sold on for development.

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The garden is sadly overgrown and neglect at the time of writing this post. The Nantwich Walled Garden Society believe that the town would benefit greatly from the garden being transformed into a place for residents to enjoy nature, and a place that would greatly benefit local wildlife.

 

More information on the garden and its planning application history can be found here: http://nantwichwalledgarden.org.uk.

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