A brief History of the Greengage Community Garden

A Brief History of the Greengage Community Garden. 

The Greengage site (Prospect Garden) is owned by Swanage Town Council (STC) and is leased to Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust (SPDT) which is the charity that Greengage Community Garden is a part of.

The Greengage site, with its large greenhouse, was previously used as a plant nursery by STC following which it was run privately before being left unloved for a few years; and of course nature took over. The whole area, including the inside of the greenhouse was covered with wild plants, which is what we call them but others would call them weeds. Luckily, the site was not vandalised, not even a pane of glass in the greenhouse was broken.

A community conservation officer from the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) was on the lookout for a suitable place to start a wellbeing garden, and luckily came across the site. After much discussion between DWT and STC an agreement was reached for the site to be leased to DWT to give birth to the idea of a community wellbeing garden.  The early photos you can see on the Archive page gives you an idea of how the plots were started and what the early volunteers were faced with. Its great that some of the volunteers that started back then in August 2016 are still here today.

Since 2016, the site has changed enormously. The greenhouse has been cleared and its floor resurfaced, with work-benches, staging and planting troughs installed inside for vegetables and flower growing. Vegetable and fruit borders have been restored, cold frames created and raised borders added that are easier to access for those with impaired mobility. Greengage has attracted funding from lots of different sources, including 'Stepping into Nature', a project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund through the Dorset AONB, which funded staff time and support for those living with dementia to join the volunteer group.

Unfortunately, when the funding provided by Stepping into Nature came to an end, DWT discussed the future with everyone involved and were confident that they had started something that could continue and could be run by its volunteers for their own community. DWT arranged for the involvement of SPDT which is a local charity that provides support to many projects in the area. This provided the security and support for the Greengage volunteers to create a project and take over the lease under SPDT in 2021.  

Greengage Community Garden has its own constitution and its own management committee made up of volunteers who want to be involved.

So that's where we are in 2022, moving forever forward, with the objective to develop and carry on being a wellbeing centre for others in the community. 

We have lots of ideas and plans for the future.