The Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden is celebrating its 20th birthday this weekend.
The volunteers who manage the facility at Saumarez Park have arranged a ‘big thank you’ this Saturday afternoon between 14:00 and 16:00.
Cathy Morgan said everyone is welcome “including all volunteers, donors, helpers and the public”.
She said it is all about “celebrating 20 years of growing veggies and lifelong friendships!”
The anniversary event will include free home-made cakes and drinks along with “live music, reminiscing and experiencing the ambience of the garden”.
Plants, produce, and locally crafted items will be on sale as normal at the special anniversary.
20 years of history
The garden had been part of the de Saumarez family’s private estate.
After the estate was bought by the States of Guernsey in 1937, the majority of the grounds became a public park, while the walled garden fell into a state of disuse and disrepair.
Formed in 2006, the Guernsey Botanical Trust LBG set out to restore Saumarez Park’s Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden as a charitable and voluntary community project.
Described on the garden website as a unique project in the Channel Islands, volunteers have dedicated two decades to creating and maintaining a productive garden growing vegetables, fruit, and flowers of the Victorian Period (1837-1901).
Research has been undertaken so that the layout of the garden beds replicate as far as possible the original Victorian style of the garden.
Further infrastructure has been added and revitalised over the past two decades, with King Charles paying a visit to the site in 2012 on his last visit to Guernsey as Prince of Wales.
Most recently, ‘The Gatehouse’ at the main garden entrance, was opened in May 2025 by the Lieutenant Governor, Sir Richard Cripwell.
It includes ‘The Sarah Groves Room’; an education and heritage space, which can also be hired for private events, presentations or exhibitions, and ‘The John Ramplin Room’; a crew-room for volunteers to have a break.
The Gatehouse also includes a dry storage room and ‘La Choppe’ (Guernesiais for shop) which sells seasonal produce grown in the garden and locally handcrafted items.
The project was always aimed at “upholding and preserving the history and heritage of Guernsey’s horticultural past and to educate people of all ages and abilities about the benefits of gardening”.
A team of volunteers mans the garden daily on weekdays and Saturday mornings, tending and preparing the plots and plants, and maintaining the wider development of the garden.
Members of the public are welcome to visit for free between April and September.
Group visits and guided tours are available by arrangement by emailing infovwkg@walledgarden.gg. Donations are welcome to help contribute towards the annual running cost and ongoing restoration of the garden.
