Over recent years the north garden of Romsey Abbey was maintained as lawn, surrounded by beech hedging and pollarded lime trees, which were gradually diminishing in number as their trunks succumbed to rot. An orchard of heritage apple trees were planted two years ago by the children of the Abbey school and we let the grass grow naturally in the meantime to see how the ground and the community responded.

Test Valley council then funded the design and installation of a perennial wildflower meadow, which is delightfully full of butterflies, bees and people.