A hidden monastic garden
A tourist and his money are soon parted, as the throng around Westminster Abbey demonstrates. »Queue here to pay by credit card«, proclaim the signs, but the steep admission price does not seem to keep the crowds away. The atmosphere is calmer in College Garden, directly to the south of the church, and it costs nothing to get in. If you stand in front of the abbey with the towers straight ahead, a gate on the right leads to Dean’s Yard, a large open space with a lawn at the centre. After passing through, look out on the left for a smaller entrance with a pointed arch and a metal gate. The dark passage beyond it leads past the Great Cloister to the Little Cloister with its fountain, then to the garden on the right.
College Garden has probably been tended without interruption for 900 years, which makes it the oldest in England in continuous use. In the Middle Ages, Benedictine monks cultivated herbs for medicine and the kitchen here. They also had vegetable patches to grow onions, beans and cabbages, fish ponds, beehives and an orchard, whose products were shared with the local poor on the feast of St James. Part of the plot was a flower garden. After the dissolution of the monastery in 1540, Westminster Abbey became a collegiate church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch, and the gardening work carried on as before.
Info
Address Dean’s Yard, SW1P 3PF | Public Transport Westminster (Circle, District, Jubilee Line) | Hours Check on www.westminster-abbey.org | Tip For a view of Parliament and the Thames without crowds, go to Victoria Tower Garden on Abingdon Street. A monument to the campaigner for women’s rights Emmeline Pankhurst and a cast of Rodin’s sculpture »The Burghers of Calais« can be seen here.
Vegetables, an herb garden, and fruit trees bearing apples, quinces and mulberries uphold the monastic tradition. The plane trees on the lawn were planted in 1850. There is a splashing fountain and a fragrant rose garden. The classical building to the west belongs to Westminster School, which was founded in 1560 by Elizabeth I but originated in a monks’ school back in the 12th century. Out in Dean’s Yard, the pupils can sometimes be seen playing a noisy game of football, but the secluded College Garden remains a peaceful spot.
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