Memorial Gardens

The Gardens are intended for the repose of the ashes of cremated persons and will be designed and maintained in a fashion for which there is no building, structures or monuments of any kind likely to remind one of a cemetery.

The parkland landscape which originally formed part of Stoke Park was originally laid out by Capability Brown and Repton. Much of the area survived until 1909 when, with its opening as a Golf Course, the character changed. In 1911 part of the park and the surrounding land was developed by a private company and sold for housing. In the 1930’s land on the south side of the St. Giles Church came under threat from further development. Sir Noel Mobbs, Lord of the Manor of Stoke Poges, acquired the twenty acres of land to the south of the church in order to preserve the tranquil and rural setting of St. Giles church, made famous by Gray’s poem ‘Elegy in a Country Church’ and to have the land as a Memorial Garden, to be a ‘living memorial to the dead and of solace to the bereaved’. On 25th May 1935 the land was dedicated as ‘non-denominational grounds’ by the Rt. Rev. Lord Bishop of Buckingham, assisted by the provost of Eaton, Mr Noel Mobbs (as he was then) and the Vicar of St. Giles Church, Rev. Mervyn Clare. In 1971 the Memorial Gardens were given to Eton and District Rural Council, which subsequently became part of South Bucks District Council.

They were designed by Edward White, a partner of Milner, White and Son, a leading landscape architect firm of the day. The plan of Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens was completed in 1937. The Gardens were to contain no buildings nor monuments as in a cemetery, but were designed on a generous scale as a complete garden with small gardens and plots available for purchase for the repose of ashes. White felt it imperative that the general appearance of the Gardens should offer satisfactory unity. There were and are in excess of 500 individual family gated gardens, for which there is no existing precedent.


The plan of Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens by Milner, White and Son , shows the layout as completed by November 1st 1937.

The area with woodland was formed into the Parkland, thereby retaining many of the existing trees, whilst the meadows were levelled to form the gardens. The avenue planting on East Drive was reinforced to increase the enclosure of the gardens. The central path leading out from Church Cottage formed the main axis, from which secondary paths extended at right angles, and in turn linked to circuitous paths round the gardens. The entry drive extended past the Cottage, parallel to the churchyard boundary gates into the churchyard. A new path extended off the circuitous path to East Drive, to give access to Stoke Park.

The original concept was realised through a memorable landscape of trees, shrubberies, gardens and lawns with a strong architectural structure, but seventy years after their inception, the Gardens had become tired and an application was made to secure monies for their refurbishment.

Following approval from the Heritage Lottery Fund and English Heritage, a grant of £500,000 was made, with additional £300,000 being received from the Mobbs Memorial Trust and £200,000 from South Bucks District Council. The Landscape Consultants were EDA (Environmental Design Associates), and the Contracting Company was English Landscapes.

The refurbishment was started in October 2001 with the contract focusing on the main structure and the formal parts of the Gardens, including replanting using the limited palette of plants that Edward White used in his gardens.


Rock and Water Features

The main avenue was replanted with alternate groups of seven mountain ash, ornamental cherries and ornamental apples, which were underplanted with white tulips and daffodils by the newly created Friends in 2005/6, thus restoring the avenue to its original design. The lawns were edged to give a sharper and more permanent line and the statue and coping around the pond were replaced or repaired.




Colonnade

The archway into the Colonnade was reinstated in its original Baltic Pine and the water rills in this area refurbished. The Colonnade’s thirty two fountains are now in full working order. All the York paving was lifted and re-laid and the grass areas returfed, the beds being edged in metal to keep their shape and ease maintenance. The original hedges were reinstated, as well as the trees and some of the climbers. Most of the original Wisteria and other climbers were retained.



Rose Garden

had been no roses in this area for ten years due to a common replant problem with roses. Once this was resolved the garden was replanted and all the metalwork in the way of gates, archways, post and wires replaced.







Rose Parterre







Rock and Water

Several of the mature trees and shrubs in this area were removed prior to replanting. The ten original water sources were repaired and the rills themselves relined and sealed. The original timber balustrade was reinstated to the small bridge.

There has been significant refurbishment in other areas and this continues as the Gardens are brought back to their original beauty. They remain an important example of the work of a foremost British landscape architect and are considered unique in England, being one of the few gardens of their period which survive unchanged, but still used for their original purpose – the interment of cremated remains.

Exclusive Rights can be purchased from the Gardens Office which start at £275 for a scattering beneath a square of turf; plots or gardens are also available from £750.

The Gardens are registered as Grade II Listed on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Interest in England. English Heritage is, however, reassessing the importance of cemeteries and memorial gardens, which may result in their status being upgraded to Grade II*.

The Gardens are open all year round dawn to dusk. Disabled access is available to most areas, weather permitting, but check on the map at the entrances. At weekends access is via the church and the side gate entrance - follow the HW (Heritage Walk) signs. You can view the map from the link at the top of this site.

The Penn Gray Museum is now housed in its original site in the Robe Room and is open during Garden Office hours Monday - Friday 9am - 4.30pm.

Useful Links

www.bereavement-services.org (Opens new window to external site)