On 31st July the Mayor and Friends of Hamdpen Park gathered to officially open a new Arboretum and History Garden in Hamdpen Park. The garden has been a year and a half in the making and was largely funded through an East Sussex County Council Global Community Chest Grant obtained by the Friends.
The garden has been designed to show how plants have been introduced to Britain since the last Ice Age that ended about 10,000 years ago. Native and introduced tree species are represented along with almost fifty smaller garden plants. In the spring historic daffodil varieties will make a colourful display around the perimeter of the garden.
Special educational garden
The Arboretum and History Garden, mentioned above, is now fully open and should make an excellent educational resource for local schools and be of particular interest to gardeners.
The garden can be used as a resource across many areas of the curriculum including biology, history, geography and art. Assisted by Trees and Woodland colleagues, Parks and Gardens staff have written a booklet containing full information about all of the plants. This can be found on our Arboretum and History Garden web page. A teaching pack in the form of a CD ROM is also available and can be obtained by contacting Parks and Gardens at Eastbourne Borough Council.
