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Taplow's Secret Garden
Look carefully, and you'll see something Scarlett in Old Priory Garden. Push on a little deeper, and you'll discover one or two Hills, some Cherrys and even a couple of Foxes. But you'll need to look up to find them. Inscribed on the undersides of some 25 birdboxes placed around the Garden are the names of many of the children of Taplow village, and they represent the first step in a new community project to reopen this astonishing piece of woodland.
To find the birdboxes, you first have to find the garden. As you walk
past the Oak & Saw pub along Rectory Road, you'll notice a pathway
running between St Nicolas House and the old telephone box. Venture
down that often muddy route, and you'll see horses grazing to your
right, and woodland to your left. That woodland, which stretches all
the way to Boundary Road, and runs along the south side of Wellbank, is
Old Priory Garden, and it has quite a history.
Back in 1852, one John Noble, the heir to a paint and varnish
manufacturer, acquired land in Taplow including Berry Hill House where
he lived until around 1870. His youngest son Percy returned to his
boyhood home more than 40 years later to replace Well Bank and The
Walnuts with a new mansion called The Priory despite the site never
having had any monastic past. In 1919 he bought further land south of
The Priory from the ecclesiastical commissioners for the Church of
England. Priory Garden was born.
Few records exist of the work Percy tackled across these five or so
acres, but even a cursory glance shows it was extensive. Scrape away
the dead leaves in the middle of the garden, and you'll discover a
concrete basin, once the foundations of the garden's small lake, fed by
water from the Wellbank property and crossed by a bridge which still
remains. Plinths pepper the eastern parts of the wood, presumably once
adorned with statues or other embellishments, and just inside the
Boundary Road wall twists a grotto, its narrow pathways winding past
raised banks where ornamental flowers once grew. In the south of the
wood stand various varieties of ivy-choked apple tree, testament to a
former functioning orchard, while a host of other tree and plant
species, native and exotic, with many still to be identified, lurk
around every corner.
Percy and his family and friends must have enjoyed these many pleasures
but, sadly, not for long. In 1937 Percy died and Wellbank Priory was
sold. We know that Fairey Aviation occupied the site during the war,
and that in the 1960s the property was knocked down in its turn and
Wellbank as we now know it was built. The gardens themselves,
meanwhile, fell under the control of South Bucks District Council and,
for the next 50 years, all went quiet.
Until last year. Taplow residents Roger Andrews, Miv Wayland-Smith and
Alistair Forsyth had for some time felt that Old Priory Garden, once a
community delight, could become so again. Thanks to the chairmanship of
Mary Trevallion, the Parish Council lent its stalwart support. Your
Society contributed seed funding and, under the auspices of The Taplow
and Hitcham Recreation Grounds Association, the Friends of Old Priory
Garden was born. In December 2012, the first working party was gathered
together, and to commemorate the moment, Parish Council Chairman George
Sandy planted a cutting from Windsor Great Park's Jubilee Oak.
So is the idea to return the land to its former state? Not at all. The
garden may have endured many decades of human neglect, but that does
not mean that nothing had been happening during that time. As the trees
grew and the plants spread, wildlife started to move in, and today the
garden is a hive of natural activity. It will stay that way. A few
areas are being cleared of bramble, a pathway or two are being cut
through the woods to the lake, dangerous branches and dead trees are
being cut down (and left for the insect life) – all so that the
community can enjoy strolls and studies of woodland wildlife, while
that wildlife is encouraged to grow even further. However, a word of
caution – by all means take your children to explore the garden but, as
it is still very much a work in progress, beware of obstacles such as
water tanks, a ravine and masses of brambles.
Eventually the lake will be filled with water once more, while gaps in
the canopy will be opened up to let in the light to encourage further
insect life, the bedrock of a natural ecosystem. The orchard will be
restored as much as possible as will, in time, parts of the intricately
designed eastern grotto and walkways. Who knows – one day there might
even be a statue or two. But predominantly, the goal is to provide
future generations with the chance to enjoy wildlife and the delights
of the great outdoors.
Which brings us back to the birdboxes, built by Dave McNulty and Tony
Harding. Many of the children who signed them, and even got to put the
finishing touches to them, go to St Nicolas' school over the road. For
many of them, this could be their introduction to the wonders of
nature, and it is moments like these that last a lifetime.
As you read this, there is a camera trap being moved around the garden,
waiting to capture the first photos of any breeding that might take
place in the birdboxes this spring. The camera, which is triggered by
movement, has already taken photos of foxes, rabbits, roe deer, muntjac
and more, and it will remain a feature of the garden in the future.
Just like the camera, the Friends have one key objective – to provide a
wonderful introduction to the natural world, without disturbing it.
Would you like to join in?
For further information on the Friends of Old Priory Garden, please
visit our web page at www.facebook.com/groups/oldpriorygardentaplow (requires registration)
Malcolm Tait
