The Quiet Garden Trust is a non-profit organisation which encourages the provision of gardens where people can set aside time for contemplation, prayer and renewal. The opening of Quiet Gardens is controlled by the respective owners, and the trust plays a co-ordinating and resourcing role. There are currently about three hundred such gardens in eighteen countries, and the idea has grown to encompass quiet spaces in churches, schools, hospitals and prisons. The gardens are open to people of all faiths, for stillness and reflection.
History and founder
The Quiet Garden Movement started in 1992, founded by Reverend Philip Roderick, then the director of the Chiltern Christian Training Programme in the
Diocese of Oxford
The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains ...
.
The first Quiet Garden was a domestic garden in
Stoke Poges
Stoke Poges () is a village and civil parish in south-east Buckinghamshire, England. It is centred north-north-east of Slough, its post town, and southeast of Farnham Common.
Etymology
In the name Stoke Poges, ''stoke'' means " stockaded (p ...
,
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-eas ...
, belonging to Geoffrey Cooper, who was
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was f ...
’s aviation correspondent.
Roderick is an
Anglican priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
, a
percussionist
A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
, an educator and a writer who worked as a trainer in theology and spirituality for both laity and clergy.
Originally from
South Wales
South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...
, he was brought up a
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
, and read Philosophy and English at
Swansea University
, former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea
, motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn
, mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture"
, established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...
.
Many threads are woven into his spiritual experience, including meditation, the monastic tradition and contact with other religions. He was ordained and became a university chaplain, and it was after visiting Christian communities in India and America during a
sabbatical
A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work.
The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...
in 1992 that he realised the significance in the life of Jesus of withdrawing to a quiet place to spend time in solitude. It was this that led him to found the Quiet Garden Movement later that year.
The Quiet Garden Trust was registered as a charity by the
Charity Commission for England and Wales
, type = Non-ministerial government department
, seal =
, seal_caption =
, logo = Charity Commission for England and Wales logo.svg
, logo_caption =
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, d ...
on 21 June 1994.
Garden locations
The Quiet Garden Movement has spread over the past twenty years to encompass about three hundred gardens in many parts of the world, not only in European countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Belgium, Finland, Austria, Switzerland and Cyprus, but also in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, Brazil, Haiti, Canada and the USA.
The gardens vary widely in size, location and character.
Most cater for a broad public, but some were created to serve a particular community, such as the Quiet Garden on the edge of the
Nsambya Hospital
St. Francis Hospital Nsambya, commonly known as Nsambya Hospital, is a hospital in Kampala, the capital of Uganda and the largest city in that country.
Location
Nsambya Hospital is located 2.7Km from Kampala Central Business District off Ggab ...
in
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and ...
,
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa. The country is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the south by Tanzania. The south ...
for
AIDS patients and carers.
in Warwickshire has created a
sensory garden
A sensory garden is a self-contained garden area that allows visitors to enjoy a wide variety of sensory experiences. Sensory gardens are designed to provide opportunities to stimulate the senses, both individually and in combination, in ways that ...
with fragrant herbal plants, designed in consultation with both sighted and partially sighted people,
and a Quiet Prison Garden in
HM Prison Bedford (now closed) benefited both prisoners and staff.
Others are simply private gardens which people have decided to share. For example, Michael and Janet Chapman frequently open their three-acre garden just outside London. “We are lucky enough to have this lovely garden. To hog it all to ourselves would be like keeping an
tucked away in the basement,” says Michael.
Ecumenism and diversity
The Quiet Garden Movement transcends normal doctrinal barriers and denominational divisions. Although Roderick is an Anglican clergyman, the concept has been embraced by a diverse range of faiths.
A
Quaker
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
group in
Beverley
Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull.
The town is known for ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...
celebrated its fiftieth anniversary by creating a Quiet Garden next to their
Friends meeting house
A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held.
Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ...
.
The first Orthodox Quiet Garden was set up in the grounds of the
Orthodox Church in
Sifton, Manitoba, Canada.
Other fellowships that have established Quiet Gardens include
Alcester
Alcester () is a market town and civil parish of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in the Stratford-on-Avon District in Warwickshire, England, approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 7 miles south of Redditc ...
Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...
Church,
Immanuel
Evangelical Lutheran Church Evangelical Lutheran Church can refer to many different Lutheran churches in the world. Among them are the following:
U.S.
* Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a mainline Protestant denomination in Chicago, Illinois
* Evangelical Lutheran Chu ...
in
San Jose, California
San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
,
and a
Roman Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in
Stainforth, South Yorkshire
Stainforth () is a town and civil parish in the City of Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, England. It is around north-east of Doncaster, close to Hatfield and Thorne. It had a population of 6,342 in the 2001 census, reducing slightly to 6,282 ...
that reclaimed derelict land with the help of prisoners from a nearby prison.
There is also a Quiet Garden at the
English Benedictine Monastery of
Worth Abbey in
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an a ...
.
In the words of Philip Roderick, "Openness to God in unexpected places is what it is all about. God is all over the place, we only have to open our ears and our eyes."
Patrons
The patrons of the trust are:
*
Richard Foster, Christian theologian, speaker and author
*
Kallistos Ware
Kallistos Ware (born Timothy Richard Ware, 11 September 1934 – 24 August 2022) was an English bishop and theologian of the Eastern Orthodox Church. From 1982, he held the titular bishopric of Diokleia in Phrygia ( gr, Διόκλεια Φρυ� ...
, Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia, Assistant Bishop,
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
The Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain is an archdiocese of the Eastern Orthodox Church, part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Its present head is Archbishop Nikitas Loulias. Its jurisdiction covers those Orthodox Chr ...
*Margaret Magdalene Evening, writer and spiritual director
*The Most Revd
Vincent Nichols
Vincent Gerard Nichols (born 8 November 1945) is an English cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birm ...
,
Archbishop of Westminster
The Archbishop of Westminster heads the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, in England. The incumbent is the Metropolitan bishop, metropolitan of the Province of Westminster, chief metropolitan of England and Wales and, as a matter of custo ...
, head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales
*The Rt Revd
John Pritchard, Anglican
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his elect ...
*Professor Sir
Ghillean Prance, British botanist and ecologist, former director of the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,10 ...
*The Rt Revd Graham Usher, Anglican Bishop of Norwich and lead the Church of England's Environment Programme
*Shane Connolly, floral designer to Queen Elizabeth
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.quietgarden.org/
Charities based in Buckinghamshire
Christian charities based in the United Kingdom
Gardens in religion
Christian mysticism
Christian prayer