A new, free public garden in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

We worked with internationally renowned garden designer Tom Stuart-Smith to transform our outdoor site from unused land into a beautiful free public garden. The garden features outdoor sculptures and will host a programme of special events for all to enjoy.

Plan your visit here.

ABOUT THE GARDEN

Tom Stuart-Smith’s design draws inspiration from its unusual setting between 19th-century red-brick mills and a 21st-century art gallery, edged by the River Calder. It echos the striking, angular shapes of the David Chipperfield-designed gallery while harnessing a naturalism that reflects Barbara Hepworth’s deep connection to the landscape.

Seating, open spaces and step-free paths within the garden allow the widest possible audience to use and move through the space. A Victorian gatehouse within the garden has been restored and brought back to life as a small café.

View more information about the sculpture on display and what’s on bloom this month here.

‘I prefer my work to be shown outside. I think sculpture grows in the open light and with the movement of the sun its aspect is always changing.’

– Barbara Hepworth

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DONATE

We have transformed a strip of unused land into a beautiful flower-filled garden, free for all to enjoy. As a living composition, the Garden requires daily care and attention to ensure it remains an urban oasis for everyone.

If you are able, please support this work. Any donation, no matter the size, makes a real difference. Please donate here.

Registered charity number: 1175095

Thank you to all those who have already helped us transform our site.

Construction Process

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Construction of the garden commenced in January 2019. The first phase – the large central area of the garden – opened in summer 2019.

Work on phase two of the garden started in early February 2020. This phase comprised the construction of a wall with new planting on both sides to create the ‘woodland edge’ section of the design. This will shield the garden from the multiple lanes of traffic on Doncaster Road, helping the garden become a tranquil space.

Work on restoring the gatehouse is now complete. With support from The Wilkes Group in memory of Gerald Wilkes, the gatehouse has been brought back into use as a small catering facility serving take away hot and cold drinks, cakes and snacks.

June 2020

What's in the garden

Over 14,000 herbaceous perrenials, 120 meters of beech hedging and 52 trees and shrubs have been introduced to the site. A further 60,000 spring bulbs have been planted across the garden by our Cultural Gardener and a team of hard-working volunteers. Carefully chosen for their colour and architectural form, the plants change through the seasons creating evolving vistas and year-round interest.

This is vastly improving the biodiversity of the site, offering rich pollen and nectar food sources for a variety of insects and much needed places for birds and insects to shelter, feed and reproduce, creating an oasis in the heart of the city. We are already seeing an increase in the amount of wildlife onsite.

Planting plan

Buy our guide to The Hepworth Wakefield Garden, which includes a pull out planting plan and short essays by Tom Stuart-Smith, Simon Wallis and Katy Merrington.

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Tom Stuart-Smith

Tom Stuart-Smith is a landscape architect and garden designer who specialises in gardens that are open to the public as well as large private gardens. His projects have included the restoration of Trentham Gardens in Staffordshire and the Keepers House at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

Tom was described in the Daily Telegraph as ‘the most influential, taste forming garden designer in the UK.’ Between 1998 and 2010 Tom was awarded 10 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, three of which were ‘Best in Show’.

Tom read Zoology at Cambridge before completing a postgraduate degree in Landscape Design at Manchester University. After working with Hal Moggridge and then with Elizabeth Banks he set up his own practice in 1998.

Tom said “I am delighted to be selected for this ambitious new project for The Hepworth Wakefield. Public commissions like these are scarce in the UK. I truly believe in the community and health benefits that gardens can bring and I am particularly excited by the socially transformative opportunities of this project. I am looking forward to working with the gallery to create a beautiful public space in this riverside setting that will be treasured by local residents and visitors alike.”

The New Yorker

Interview with Tom Stuart-Smith

We’re delighted to have appointed Katy Merrington as our Cultural Gardener. Alongside Tom Stuart-Smith, Katy worked on the planting of the garden and has responsibility for maintaining it, as well as working with our learning team to devise an exciting outdoor programme.

Katy has worked in some of the best gardens in the UK and USA including Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at Logan, Dumfries & Galloway and Longwood Gardens: Pennsylvania, USA. Katy studied Fine Art at Newcastle University and has conducted freelance projects for galleries across Newcastle as well as leading a programme of family and engagement events in a wide range of gardens and art spaces.

Diary of a Cultural Gardener

Between May 2019 and May 2021, Katy documented her work in a monthly diary to offer a little glimpse into life in The Hepworth Wakefield Garden.View Katy’s monthly diary entries here.