DEAN GARNIER’S GARDEN

The Dean Garnier Garden is a new addition to the Cathedral Close and lies on the site of the dormitory of the Benedictine Monastery which was established for over 500 years, until the dissolution.
The garden may be found between the site of the Chapter House and the Deanery and is accessed through a fine doorway and up a short flight of steps.

The garden, designed by Sally Hocking, features three ‘rooms’. The first of these is the Dorter Garden with it’s recumbent Quince tree set in a lawn, with a small border planting. A three arched metal Arbour separates  the Dorter Garden from the Presbytery Lawn and draws the eye to the old Deanery Bakehouse which is thereby incorporated into, but not part of, the Garden. Roses ‘Celine Forestier’ climb the Arbour and will, in time, shade the low stone benches underneath. To the left of the Bake House a little dog lies curled up beneath a fine stone bench seat.

designed to part surround a statue of St Michael. Almost hidden behind this hedge is the Lady Chapel Garden. This has a much wider planting and is designed to give a variety of form and colour throughout the year by the use of a careful mix of flowering and foliage plants.
Dean Thomas Garnier was a founding member of the Hampshire Horticultural Society established 1818. Many of the trees to be seen in the Close today were planted by Dean Garnier, after his arrival in 1840. The memorial garden was built, and is maintained by, the Friends of Dean Garniers Garden. It’s creation, and continued maintenance, relies upon charitable donations from the public, and the dedicated care of the Friends.