Bishop of Winchester’s gardener retires after nearly three decades

THE Bishop of Winchester’s head gardener is hanging up his hoe for the final time this summer.

Nick Kilroy is retiring after 29 years tending the historic, private garden at Wolvesey Palace, home to the bishops of Winchester since Saxon times.

“I came here in 1992. Not many people get the opportunity to develop one garden over such a long time although I possibly stayed a bit longer than anticipated,” he said with a smile.

Nick, 61, has kindly agreed (after getting the green light from the bishop’s office) to give a tour of the stunning, peaceful garden.

Its delights include long herbaceous borders, formal rose garden, arboretum, Victorian greenhouse, woodland walk and magnificent beech trees overhanging the lawn. There are also colourful shrub and perennial borders, decoratively planted containers and a recently added herb garden.

Gardening in Victorian times

There has been a garden of sorts since the Middle Ages when Henry of Blois began to build Wolvesey Castle (the old bishop’s palace). Today from the existing garden there are spectacular views of the castle ruins, Winchester College Chapel and the Cathedral.

Built in 1684, Wolvesey Palace was designed by Thomas Fitch in the baroque style. “The house was built for Bishop Morley who was with King Charles II in exile and a lot of people think it looks quite French,” said Nick.

The building is mostly used as offices for the Church of England’s Winchester Diocese, so staff enjoy the garden too. In the 1920s, an extension was added which is where the current bishop, Tim Dakin and his wife, Sally, live.

So how has Nick left his mark? “The colour scheme – I thought purple and gold would be perfect for a bishop. The colour scheme has evolved as I pulled up things that didn’t fit in, like pink and apricot gladioli,” he said with a shudder. “They are probably back in fashion now but not in this garden.”

Nick’s initiatives include a framework of shaped evergreen box and laurel hedges to “punctuate” the extensive flowerbeds and give interest in winter. Six trees were planted last Lent.

Bishop's garden, tended by Nick Kilroy for 30 years

We pass through a gate to the rose garden, many of the shrub roses are of considerable age. Nick underplanted them with Nepata, Gernanium, Feverfew, Alchemilla and Verbena.

The rose arch covered by Clematis Wisley, honeysuckle and Rosa Dortmund leads to a veg garden in orderly beds with sweet pea wigwams made of hazel sticks coppiced from the arboretum. There is also a bed to grow flowers for cutting and arranging which the bishop’s wife enjoys.

“Before coming here, I had grown little veg. That is one of the joys of gardening – you are constantly learning,” said Nick who lives with his wife, Jenny, an occupational therapist, in half a converted stable block, a stone’s throw from the garden.

The other half used to be occupied by the bishop’s chauffeur before the post was axed about 17 years ago. When Nick retires, he will be replaced by a part-time gardener who won’t live in.

His successor, Geoff Brown, has assisted Nick a couple of days a week for years. “I am delighted Geoff will continue our work in the garden,” said Nick.

Along the back and side walls of the garden are beautiful herbaceous borders. Purple Delphiniums, Helianthus, Aruncus, Echinops and Helianthus form the backbone while at the front of the border are Campanulas, Peonies, Euphorbias, old English roses and more.

“This is what drew me to the garden” said Nick pointing to the ancient brick and flint walls with tile capping.

A path leads to the bishop’s house with a huge Mulberry tree in the centre of the lawn and to the left of that is a Judas tree. The lawn is good enough to play croquet.

While the garden is private it has been open to the public for successful fundraising days over the years. It is also used by church groups. This summer, the garden hosted performances of Midsummer’s Night Dream by Chesil Theatre and Pirates of Penzance by Winchester Musicals and Opera Society.

Nick Kilroy and Bishop Tim

Continuing to the arboretum, which was planted around 1985, Nick points out specimen trees of interest, among these being possibly the oldest Indian Chestnut in Hampshire, Liquid amber styraciflua (Sweet Gum) and Corylus colurna (Turkish Hazel).

Grass below the trees is left as a wildflower meadow. The woodland is used as a forest classroom by Pilgrim’s School. Benches are fashioned out of fallen trees and there are beehives.

“I come and talk to the bees – tell them if Chelsea won - but they are looked after by Jackie Rowlands, the diocesan safeguarding officer, who is a beekeeper. “Bees, butterflies, foxes, herons, both types of woodpeckers (green and lesser-spotted), goldcrests, wrens, magpies, jays – we see the lot! There is even a kestrel nesting in a hopper on the roof of the bishop’s house. And, of course, we see the peregrine falcons flying over that nest on the cathedral roof.”

“When you consider how near the garden is to the High Street it’s amazing. It doesn’t feel like you are in the centre of a city.”

As we head for a small wooden bridge, Nick points up to a giant pair of London Plane trees reckoned to be about 400 years old.

“There’s so much history in this garden,” said Nick who wanted to be an archaeologist before his school’s career officer put him off, saying there wasn’t much money in it. “It took me a few years to realise there isn’t any money in gardening either!” said Nick who previously worked as a gardener for a private landscaping company in Chelsea, Highgate and Hampstead as well as Brent Council.

We pass under a stone arch with a dedication to Bishop Morley and some Victorian schoolboy graffiti. A path to the cathedral, well-trodden by bishops, kings and queens over the centuries, leads to a gate in the wall, known as the ‘Watergate’.

Nick has many happy memories of his time at Wolvesey where he and Jenny brought up their two grown-up sons. The youngest, Tom, inherited his father’s green-fingers and now works as a gardener.

“While I have been at Wolvesey, I’ve been a custodian of the garden. It has been a privilege and a pleasure. I always say, no-one owns a garden; it is a living thing that will be that will be handed on.”