Last autumn Peter Gibson, Duty Manager at Monkwearmouth Station Museum, decided to turn his passion for gardening into a new, interesting and beautiful contribution to the museum’s grounds.  The self-described “enthusiastic amateur” quickly drew up a plan for a traditional Victorian cottage garden in the front of Monkwearmouth and planted bulbs before the first snowfall.  Now, several months later, visitors to the museum are greeted by the garden’s delightful array of flowers and ferns.  Blossoms of every size, shape and colour decorate Monkwearmouth’s entrance, growing together in harmony.

But Peter is quick to point out that his work is anything but finished.  The garden, like all thriving gardens, is constantly evolving and changing with the seasons.  Peter also has impressive plans for the rest of Monkwearmouth’s grounds.  Next to the new Sidings building (home to two railway wagons, currently under restoration), Peter and his team of dedicated volunteers are developing a second, more comprehensive Victorian cottage garden which includes over 25 varieties of plants, including vegetables, herbs and flowers. A shadier area has potential to become a fern garden, and Peter intends to turn an overgrown area into a wildlife meadow, where bees, butterflies, birds and possibly even hedgehogs can live in peace.

Traditionally, Victorians kept small gardens to feed themselves and their families, taking pride in the beautiful flowers they grew alongside their vegetables.  Today’s “Victorian” cottage gardens are similar to the traditional version, but are home to a variety of different and hybrid plants that weren’t available in the 19^th century.  The inspiration, however, remains the same: a wide variety of flowers of all sizes completely covering the soil, immersing the visitor in blossoms and greenery.