Upton Country Park Walled Garden
The colourful and fascinating history of Upton Country Park dates back almost 250 years to the time that wealthy Poole merchant and banker William Spurrier purchased the 100 acre estate on the shores of Poole Harbour.
The Walled Garden is one of the key features of the original landscape of Poole’s only Country Park, and an important element in the ongoing programme of the Park’s restoration.
The Friends of Upton Country Park have long had an aim to restore the Walled Garden to its former glory. In 2006 the Council commissioned a Landscape Architect to “reinstate or reinterpret” the garden’s historic landscape design, and to extend the existing opportunities for educational use and community involvement.
A project has since been worked up which will:
- Restore the garden’s old footpath network as an expression of its former function.
- Represent the trading origins of Upton House, and indeed of Poole itself, thereby creating a garden that is unique to Upton House and Upton Country Park.
- Create a garden that is flexible, that accommodates a multitude of uses – gardening, horticulture, art, music, education, nature and leisure, and that offers scope for a range of seasonal events.
Read about the proposals in more detail
About the Walled Garden
Before the growth of international trade and modern food preservation techniques walled kitchen gardens were found in the grounds of most large country houses in Britain, designed to provide a continual supply of fruit, flowers and vegetables.
The importance of such gardens would have reduced in the 20th Century, brought about by a shortage of labour as a result of two world wars, and the growth in availability of imported and preserved food.
The Walled Garden at Upton lies to the south of the main house, adjoining the old stable block – now the Peacock Tea Rooms & Gallery and Heritage Centre. It was included in the original 55 acres of land gifted to the Borough of Poole by the Llewellin family in 1957.
Since it has been opened to the public the Walled Garden has proved a popular venue for a number of events, including outdoor picnic concerts by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The Education Resource Centre and Kingston Maurward College has used the garden as a training facility since 2002, and the Friends of Upton Country Park hold an Annual Plant Fair within its walls.
Timescale
The total cost of the scheme (in excess of £250,000) exceeds the funding available and in December 2007 an application for further funding was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund. In June 2008 we received notification regretting that our bid was unsuccessful. The project team is currently looking at the options available to them.
More Leisure Projects
- Alderney Recreation Ground (re-named Bourne Valley Park)
- Alexandra Park
- Bourne Valley Play Area
- Hamworthy Park
- Kingston Road Recreation Ground
- Poole Park Lake
- Sandbanks Recreation Ground
- St Georges Field Recreation Ground
- Upton Country Park Walled Garden
- Whitecliff Recreation Ground
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