‘Sowing And Growing’: Churches Bring Back Community Gardens
NORWICH, England — Anglican churches began celebrating the Feast of Creation for the first time early this past September, stressing the need to care for God’s creation, nature and the environment. Yet this is nothing new for the many churches and cathedrals that have been quietly participating in nature and horticulture as part of their daily mission.
Surrounding every church and cathedral are various types of green space — cemeteries, lawns, trees and herbs. Cathedral cloisters centered around green space have always engendered calm and tranquility for all who use them, while apothecary gardens located nearby would have provided medicines for medieval monasteries.
More than 9,000 churches and chapels across the United Kingdom participate in the A Rocha U.K. Eco-Church movement, which encourages congregations to care for the environment around their buildings. This may involve creating gardens for use by the church community or encouraging nature to take advantage of the green space provided by graveyards by planting plants beloved by pollinators.
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Some houses of worship have expanded this concept of caring for creation even further — often stimulated by well-being issues raised during the pandemic. Such projects recognize that gardening offers more than caring for plants and creating pleasant surroundings.
Gloucester Cathedral’s gardening project was established as a direct response to the social isolation experienced by many people during the pandemic. It provided a way for people to meet others and spend time outside enjoying nature by planting flowers, growing vegetables and creating wildlife habitats.
It proved extremely successful, with organizers noting that participants were becoming more confident, developing friendships and new interests. As a result, it was decided to expand, providing more facilities under the title Gardening for Wellbeing. It has become a way for people to increase their gardening knowledge, find friends and enjoy a calming, relaxed environment. They can also gain qualifications as a result of their participation by taking part in the AQA Unit Award Scheme. More than 2,500 certificates have been issued to participants covering a range of topics from gardening skills to environmental projects.
Activities are often shaped around what the cathedral describes as the “Five Ways to Wellbeing: Connect, Be Active, Take Notice, Keep Learning and Give.” Gardening activities are also included in a special well-being program that has been developed for children and young people with additional needs known as sowing and growing. These programs are being designed with participants, rather than for them.
Ultimately, this will result in a fully accessible sensory garden within the cathedral grounds. According to the cathedral, “The garden project connects strongly with Gloucester Cathedral’s wider commitment to wellbeing, inclusion and caring for creation.”
Meanwhile in Rochester, a historic garden led to the creation of another innovative garden-related program. During Victorian times, the dean of Rochester Cathedral, Samuel Reynolds Hole, was renowned for his rose-growing skills. Often described as The Rose King, he was the author of books on the subject that helped to popularize English rose growing and founded the National Rose Show. Subsequent decades led to his garden becoming a wilderness, hidden behind a medieval wall. COVID provided the inspiration to do something about it.
Dr. Philip Hesketh, dean of Rochester, had been considering options for the garden. Working in the garden alongside Graham Huxstep, the cathedral gardener, during the pandemic, they realized the space could be utilized for the cathedral’s health and wellness mission.
A new gateway was created, giving access directly from the cathedral grounds, and Dean Hole’s rose garden was reinstated with the aid of the National Rose Society. The area was planted with many of the roses that would have been familiar to Dean Hole.
Once that was completed, Huxstep began working with local charities focusing on health and wellness. A group of veterans from the Royal Engineers arrived to restore a summerhouse originally built by the Royal Engineers in 1979. They transformed the remaining garden into a community garden area, vegetable-growing area, wildflower meadow and small vineyard, plus an infirmary herb garden reflecting the cathedral’s monastic heritage.
The Dorothy Kerin Trust, a Christian charity working for the benefit of physical and mental health and well-being in the community, provided funding for a horticultural therapist. Working alongside similar coordinators in music and art, the therapists will create a cathedral outreach program providing whatever facilities are needed by local special needs and community groups.
Gardening has become a key element in the wider cathedral mission, reflecting the need to care for creation as Hesketh noted.
“Dean Hole wrote about how being in a garden is being close to God and that the happiness of mankind may be increased by encouraging the love of a garden,” he said. “He saw religion bringing people together and building a new community. This is a community of hope and salvation. The linguistic root of salvation lies in health and wholeness. We are helping people to grow in the image of Christ.”
Angela Youngman is a freelance journalist who has written for a wide range of British and international publications.