A Brief History of Selwyn College Gardens

As you may well know, the College was founded in 1882, and the gardens have slowly evolved into what you see today. Past gardeners have contributed in their own way to harmonise the garden with the imposing building that Sir Arthur Blomfield designed. Blomfield intended that the lawn be at the same level with the building. However, expediency prevailed and for 80 years Old Court had a sunken lawn just like its sister college, Keble, in Oxford. In 1961 the sunken lawn was levelled from topsoil from nearby land owned by Gonville and Caius College. Legend has it that the topsoil was transported by wheelbarrow! Many at the time saw this act of levelling the lawn as an act of vandalism, but on a practical level it is a lot easier to maintain and it does make for a more harmonious vista.

Selwyn College was built on a typical fen landscape of ridge and furrow water meadows, hedgerows and footpaths in the shade of huge elm trees, one of which still stands at the front of the College in the library car park. There are, in fact, a number of old trees in the grounds that date back to the 19th century, such as some magnificent old horse chestnuts, cedars, pines and a grand specimen of Holm Oak, an evergreen oak that stands proudly at the back of the lower lawn, not that far from the pond which was installed in 1998 - a much more recent feature.

During World War 2 the RAF occupied alternate staircases for cadet training, and cadets were drilled on the paths of Old Court. Graduates of the 1940s recall that the lower lawn was put over to vegetables and that one of the local coal tip reserves was sitting on the lawn somewhere in the Fellows' Garden. Also the nearby gardeners' 'Bothy' was used as target practice by a German plane; the marks were still visible until it was renovated in 1996. This so damaged the paths that the government asphalted them for us. At this time the Porters' Lodge was equipped as an air-raid warden's post, and the siren for west Cambridge was on top of the tower. Over the next fifty years the garden recovered from this onslaught and turned into what you can see today.

The Four Seasons of Selwyn College Gardens

SPRING in the garden is always a time of hope and expectation and our gardens will not disappoint you. Although we do not have the eclectic collection of bulbs that a lot of colleges have, we do have a plethora of bulbs. We order hundreds, if not thousands, of bulbs each year and most are put into boxes to grow on under cover as cut flowers for use in the College. The old bulbs go into the ground in late spring to flower there the next spring. The first bulbs to flower are Aconites, Anemone Blanda and then Snowdrops. Most of these are located in or around the woodland walk. Next to flower are the white and yellow Daffodils, Hyacinths and then a lot of Tulips dotted here and there. Every spring the College is lit with blossom. Along the Grange Road frontage are 50-year-old Prunus Umineko, which give a brief yet glorious show in early spring, and in mid-April one of the prettiest, best-kept secrets in Cambridge is "Cherry Tree Avenue", the entrance to College along West Bye Lane. The rows of Prunus TaiHaku look fantastic in blossom, and have a delicious fragrance. To take us into the summer we have Alliums (flowering onion). You will find these randomly planted in our herbaceous borders.

SUMMER is the busiest time of the year in the garden. All the hanging baskets in Old Court should be out in flower by now and all the summer bedding completed. This is the time that the garden is at its best, and is used to its full potential by the students, staff, public and conference visitors. The lower lawn has lots of seated areas for students and staff to relax and enjoy the garden, and people from nearby offices even bring their sandwiches with them. The College has a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere and this permeates into the garden. In August Selwyn, as part of the "The National Garden Scheme" the College opens its gardens to the public. The Open Day in 2003 attracted some 200 keen gardeners to the gardens. We receive a lot of comments and ideas from the public and this enthusiasm helps to prepare us for the autumn labours.

AUTUMN is the time of year when we have a final trim on the Virginia Creeper that covers the walls of the Old Court buildings. The gardeners need the assistance with this task and a "cherry picker" (mobile elevated platform) is hired as this climber can sometimes reach the roof - over 12 metres high! Still going strong is our Victorian Border. This attracts a lot of comments throughout out the year and can still be a feature up until the first frosts or until the winter bedding goes in. Although labour intensive, it is worthwhile, as it displays a fine collection of exotics, fragrant and tender plants such as Canna, some tall and unfamiliar Salvias, Osteospermums, Penstemons, Lippia Citriodora (a lemon scented plant), fragrant Geraniums, and also a number of unusual plants that we have to grow from seed. We always plant a lot of bulbs at this time of year, and the usual winter bedding like Polyanthus, Pansies and Wallflowers. And of course, in autumn the leaf clearing starts in earnest.

WINTER is a time of year that most people desert the garden. By now most of the leaves should be on their way to the compost heap. Most of the suitable garden waste is composted, as this is an environmentally friendly thing to do and it is also cost effective. This is also the time for some serious pruning and to contact the tree surgeon to make the trees safe. This will also help to promote new and healthy growth on trees that sometime need some TLC. This is also a time for planning next year's strategies and weatherproofing the garden benches, as well as tidying up the sheds and greenhouses.

The Present and The Future

The Head Gardener, Paul Gallant, and his team of gardeners (Paul Baldry, Laurie McPhun and Sam Weekes), are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the main College garden, the Master's Garden, the Fellows' Garden, and the gardens in Cripps Court (our nearby student accommodation) and surrounding student hostels.

Word is spreading about the beauty of the College garden. Cambridge Alumni Magazine (CAM), (Easter Term 2002) featured it in its list of top ten Cambridge gardens - "Selwyn is maturing into one of the great Cambridge gardens" - and 'Cambridgeshire Life' (November 2002 issue) describes many of the flowers and shrubs in its 'Gardens of Learning' article.

So what does the future hold in store for Selwyn College gardens? The Head Gardener plans to continue the high standard of maintenance of the College gardens, and to implement this philosophy to all College properties. Old shrub roses and shrubs need pruning, and the old diseased wood needs to be removed. The herbaceous borders have plants that need splitting up and restructuring, which will take a few years to complete. To add structure to the garden during the winter months, the gardeners will be adding some infill of evergreen shrubs and ones that have an interest in the winter like shrubs with berries, catkins, fragrant flowers or coloured stems. The pond also requires some tender loving care with the introduction of water lilies and marginal aquatic plants.

With the development of the new student accommodation and administration block, the College intends to develop many new borders in harmony with the building and also try to make these low maintenance, so that the rest of the College can be kept to the high standard we have already achieved.