Victorian Garden’s Gatehouse project enters its final phase
WORK on the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden is coming to an end as it starts to enter the final phase in its Gatehouse project.
The project has seen the garden rip out its old dilapidated shed, replacing it with the construction of a multi-purpose gatehouse.
The idea originally arose in 2012 with fundraising starting in 2017 which included the Raise the Roof lottery campaign, donations and plant sales.
Construction first began in 2020, however was almost instantaneously brought to a halt.
‘We had just put the foundations in then Covid hit,’ said head gardener Jill Tetlaw.
‘It’s taken a while, problems with Brexit and Covid have led to struggles with unavailability of materials and with social distancing it was hard to physically get to work.’
The project has been split into three phases and is being undertaken by P and J Ogier.
The first phase was completed in early 2022 which saw the exterior frame of the building constructed.
Phase two is set to be finished in the coming weeks and has seen the interior of the Gatehouse worked on, including the addition of toilet facilities and once repainted the project will enter phase three.
Inside the Gatehouse there will be a crew room for the gardeners, a shop to replace La Choppe, a tool shed and an education and learning room. It is expected to be finalised this year with the final touch of landscaping work being the third and final phase.
Head of sweetpeas Jayne Spicer said that the garden’s educational programme is one of the main focuses for the Gatehouse.
‘We are going to host schools again so the pupils can come to see what’s growing and how it all actually works.
‘The children can understand and observe things like how potatoes grow in the ground and don’t just appear in a plastic bag,’ she said.
‘We take a hands on approach.’
Ms Spicer added that once completed the project will also boost local tourism.
‘We’ve already had cruise passengers for tours of the garden which proved to be very popular and the Gatehouse adds another dimension.
'It’s an important part of Guernsey heritage, and we use plants that were available in the Victorian era,’ she said.
