One Garden Brighton is a Victorian walled garden within Stanmer Park on the outskirts of Brighton. It has laid abandoned for years and now, rediscovered and reinvented, it is open to the public for the first time in its history.
Following the purchase of Stanmer Estate by the Pelham family in 1713, the family employed architect Nicholas Dubois in 1722 to design the manor house, ornamental gardens and the walled garden. Traditionally, walled gardens were designed to protect unusual and exotic plants from weather, or as productive kitchen gardens, providing vegetables and fruit to the house.
The Palm House near the gates of One Garden Brighton is one of only three remaining of its kind in England. They were built in the 1950s for local councils and were originally heated. The Walled Garden during this time was a nursery for Brighton & Hove City Council and a space to grow plants for the city parks.
In 2017, Plumpton College and Brighton & Hove City Council together with partners were awarded £5.8 million for the Stanmer Park Restoration Project, regenerating over 20 hectares of the park’s landscape and walled garden from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In 2019 work officially began to restore the walled garden, build a new Horticultural Centre of Excellence and open as One Garden Brighton a destination garden for the community.
With the gardens now open, the Palm House has not been a part of the original restoration project and our ambition is to now regenerate this and open it for the public to enjoy. Restoring it would require refitting the heating system and reglazing the glass to be able to house exotic plants. Plans include adding a vaulted walkway with viewing platforms and an educational experience showcasing a wide variety of plant species.