St John’s famous churchyard garden, a green oasis in the heart of Waterloo, has won a Gold Award in the London in Bloom 2021 competition and been voted Churchyard of the Year.

The garden provides a peaceful escape from the hectic life of the city for hundreds of local people, many visiting daily to meet neighbours, exercise their dogs, and enjoy the changing seasons. It is also popular with workers who picnic in summer on its gently undulating lawn and commuters who take the opportunity for a moment of stillness before catching a train from Waterloo Station. It is open all year round and in May and June hosts sculpture shows, jazz afternoons and tea parties during Waterloo Festival, run by St John’s.

St John’s Community Gardner, Viv Williamson is helped by a team of volunteers including students from Roots and Shoots College in Kennington which has been providing environmental education to young Londoners since 1982.

“This award is testament to the dedication and warm-spirited teamwork of our volunteers, “ Viv said. “Some of our volunteers came every day during the lockdowns to keep the garden looking good. For many people during the pandemic it was a much-needed escape from life indoors.”

“The churchyard is a really special place, for people, and for wildlife and plants.  We are very aware of global warming and are choosing our plants to be drought tolerant and nectar rich for pollinators.  This has a positive effect on the look and feel of the garden.  You can sit in the shade of our huge walnut trees, or you can wander in our shady topiary garden and see our two beautiful cork trees that we grew from seed. We have fragrant flowering shrubs in season, and a herbaceous border currently overflowing with an abundance of colourful asthers. Our Garden of Remembrance is tucked amongst borders of interesting exotic shrubs, alongside our wildlife garden which is alive with bees from our apiary. If you’d like to volunteer, find me in the garden or contact me on churchyard@stjohnswaterloo.org.”

Canon Giles Goddard, vicar of St John’s, said: “Our churchyard garden sits at the heart of our work and life at St John’s. During this past year, it has inspired us to share our love of gardening with the residents of local hostels. We now have partnerships with several South London hostels where we’ll be teaching basic horticulture skills and providing the opportunity for people with challenging lives to experience the pleasure of working outdoors with others.”

St John’s is currently undergoing a £5 million restoration that will enable it to serve the community even better over the century ahead. Its usually glorious south wall border is hidden behind hoardings but will be redesigned and replanted when the works are completed in May 2022.

The use of St John’s churchyard as a garden goes back to 1877 when Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, got the graves removed and the churchyard opened for the urban poor. She described it as “more like a country garden … than any other I have seen”. It was again relandscaped in 2007 and is continually evolving.

For further information, please contact: comms@stjohnswaterloo.org | 07388 38161

Photo: Eleanor Bentall.