Art in the park
Arthur’s Oak Bower
The bower (or place of repose) was designed and hand-carved by Arthur de Mowbray
The roof is red cedar from the Cowdrey Park Estate and the seats and supports were carved from a single oak tree from Hammerwood Park, a stately home owned in the 1970’s by rock band Led Zepplin and designed by British architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe.
Arthur chose red cedar as it is durable, pliable and light-weight. Originally English carpenters would have used the indigenous chestnut tree which originates from the USA and Canada, where Native American tribes used it for totem poles and dug-out canoes, part of Arthur’s inspiration for the design.
Lizzie Lambert
Created by Jessica Wilson, this sculpture represents human kindness.
The sculpture is situated on the former tuck shop that Lizzie ran. It was the focal point of school children many years ago.
Lizzie was said to give school children a sixpence of their birthdays (provided they then spent it at the tuckshop!) Lizzie's family still live locally and use Archbishop's Park.
Most of our projects are directly about gardening, but sometimes we are able to undertake activities which combine gardening with other topics such as art, particularly as our area is so historical. This was the case of the sculpture Lizzie Lambert where we were able to regenerate a disused area of the park by erecting a sculpture which was run as a local competition reflecting local history and where we also used the runner up sculpture “The Gardener’s Hand” in the southern end of the park. Other times we have used less conventional items such as a fallen tree to create a replacement shelter.
The Gardener’s Hand
Created by artist Tim Hollins, this bronze stands about 60 cm high and sits in one of the flowerbeds near the pond and is part of the “Woodland Walk” which runs alongside the perimeter fence with Lambeth Palace. It reflects the hard work of all the volunteers who help the gardens looking good and nestled within the hand in a crocus.
Beekeeping
We have five hives near the Lambeth Palace Road entrance which help pollinate our orchard and the many flowers and trees which make the park so beautiful throughout the year. There are a couple of bee suits, so if volunteers want to try their hand, they can work with our expert beekeeper and trainer Barnaby from Bee Urban.
Around September each year, Bee Urban extracts our honey from the comb and bottles it into 8 oz jars, ready to be eaten.
Local, raw honey can help with seasonal allergies and is a natural antiseptic, but above all its delicate taste, unique to our park, is delicious!
Honey is for sale at our container in the park each Friday (just inside the Carlisle Lane entrance) or by contacting Helen on 07981 908919 who can arrange to meet you in the park. Alternatively, contact us through our website. All proceeds support our activities in the park.
Wildlife
Why ponds?
One third of ponds in the UK are thought to have disappeared in the last fifty years and of those that remain more than 80% are thought to be in ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ condition. This has had an enormous impact on wildlife, particularly amphibians. Frogs, toads and newts are dependent on ponds to breed; if ponds disappear, so do they.
Frog life
Friends of Archbishops invited the amphibian charity, Frog Life, to come and inspect our pond, teach us about frogs, newts and toads and to find out how we could make our pond an even better home.
Healthy pond
We found abundant presence of rams horn snails, and this is a great indictor that we have a healthy pond. We also found a tadpole and a common newt.
Rockery
We also built a rockery as this gives invertebrates and amphibians shelter, especially in winter.
Activity
We put on waders and set about clearing the pond of any rotting vegetation, using plastic rakes We cleared leaves, broken branches and dead reeds as these rot down. These all add carbon to the water, encourage algae and bacteria and make the pond smell.
