Blandford Museum Victorian Garden

The Blandford Museum Victorian Garden started in April 2008 after a suggestion of growing heritage varieties of crops similar to those that would have been prepared and eaten in a kitchen in Victorian times. The idea was to help bring the museum’s Victorian kitchen scullery to life especially to parties of visiting school children. The main aim of the garden is to provide an educational focus for schools and the local community including those people with learning difficulties and other special needs.

The garden is on land belonging to The William Williams’ Trust of Blandford who have leased it, on a peppercorn rent, to the Blandford Town Museum and is managed entirely by a group of volunteers ‘The Blandford Museum Victorian Garden Club’.

Heritage varieties of fruit, vegetables, herbs and flowers are grown and the plan is to ultimately use traditional techniques and methods in keeping with the Victorian period and even earlier .Each spring mostly pre- 1900 varieties of vegetables and flowers are selected to grow for demonstration and display.
Old fruit tree varieties are being trained against the sheltered walls. Fortunately there is an original Victorian period apple tree within the garden – Lane’s Prince Albert, a cooking apple similar in age to many other old fruit trees still surviving in Blandford Gardens.

To raise funds the Garden club propagate and grow a wide range of plants for sale, both old and new varieties, produce is also available from time to time.

The wildlife area is continuously developing and includes a pond and bog garden planted with many British native species to encourage wildlife and also several organically- run beehives looked after by a local apiarist. The extra help the bees provide with crop pollination is welcomed.

This garden provides the community and visitors with an attractive and peaceful place to sit awhile, close to, but away from the traffic and bustle of the town.

From time to time the garden hosts short courses, e.g. plant – based cosmetics preparation and events such as storytelling, The Big Lunch and Tea parties for the residents of local care homes, as well as taking part in Blandford’s Hidden Gardens Day each June.

The garden relies on volunteers, donations, plant and homemade preserve sales, grant funding and fund raising garden events to run.

The club volunteers meet to work as group for a couple of hours on alternate Saturday and Sunday mornings and occasionally during the week. Anyone is welcome to join in whenever time permits. Would you like to be involved? The club would welcome:

• Green or non-green fingered folk keen to help with the plants
• Handy people: there are always lots of odd jobs to do
• Record keepers: for educational and grant application purposes
• Cake bakers, chutney makers & crafty fingers: for fund raising
• Those with an interest in education, natural and local history
• Stewards’ willing to spend a couple of hours in the garden talking to visitors.

Please note that there is small annual membership charge. If you want to join the Victorian Garden Club, check the space next to its name on your membership form which can be found on our Membership page