National Lottery Grants for Heritage – £250,000 to £5million
The project will transform a disused stable block in Penzance’s historic Morrab Gardens into The Gardeners' House. The hub will also include a sensory garden, providing a tranquil space for people to reconnect with nature, particularly supporting older people and those living with dementia.
Part of the space will include a 'living archive'. Donated by the Hypatia Trust, the ‘living archive’ showcases the achievements and stories from the last 200 years of West Cornwall’s natural heritage. The new home will safeguard this important collection and will continue to grow with the experiences of people in the community today, particularly in response to the climate crisis.
The planet needs us to connect, protect, restore and prepare. The Gardeners' House is the perfect place for us to empower our youth for the future.
Rich Steve, Earth's Green Guardians
Local groups including Cornish young people's charity, Earth's Green Guardians will bring the project to life. Rich Steve from Earth’s Green Guardians, said: “Local schoolchildren can walk or take coaches to this central location with a classroom and gardens. The planet needs us to connect, protect, restore and prepare. The Gardeners' House is the perfect place for us to empower our youth for the future."
Artists will lead a community art project to create natural heritage inspired designs. Local craftspeople will then be commissioned to recreate these designs in stone, metal and wood which will feature in the sensory garden.
Miki Ashton, Project Coordinator, said: “The Gardeners’ House will provide a home for a knowledge bank which draws on the past and encourages the people of West Cornwall to add new, positive and personal contributions to make it a living archive.”
