Your friends are fundraising. Don't miss out, opt in.

We did it!

Aideen McHugh raised £440 from 11 supporters

or

Start your own crowdfunding page

Closed 28/03/2023

0%
£440
raised of £250,000 target by 11 supporters

    Weʼve raised £440 to restore a c.1600 one of a kind arcaded wall at Church Gardens, Harefield.

    Funded on Tuesday, 28th March 2023

    Don't have time to donate right now?

    Story

    Hello,

    My name is Aideen McHugh and I have created this page in the hope that my parents dream of restoring this beautiful and unique wall may become a reality (during their lifetime!).

    My parents, Kay and Patrick McHugh, purchased Church Gardens, Harefield in 1995. Church Gardens is the original walled gardens of the Harefield Place estate which are probably amongst the oldest surviving walled gardens in England, the walls date from the late C16th and early 17th Century. By 1995, the house and gardens were in a derelict state, after working on the property for 2 and a half years (whilst both working full time jobs) they moved in with their 3 year old daughter (Meave) and 4 week old twins daughters (Diane and I) in 1998.

    Church Gardens consists of three walled areas; the kitchen garden, a smaller courtyard behind the main house, and a final much larger area comprising of a nuttery/orchard. This larger walled garden is one of the only surviving renaissance pleasure gardens in the country and includes a unique arcaded wall. It is believed that this mysterious wall was constructed sometime between 1601 and 1636 for Sir Thomas Egerton and his wife the Countess of Derby- the residents of Harefield Place at that time. The function of the arcade niches has been a matter of great debate. Locally it was believed to be a 'bee' wall (unlikely due to the size of the alcoves) or the alcoves could have been used to protect delicate fruits, like an early orangery or to display life sized statues. The most interesting possibility is that it was constructed as a backdrop for a performance of a masque called 'Arcades' written by the poet Milton with music by Henry Lawes which was written for the 70 year old Countess of Derby as an entertainment to celebrate her life.

    Unfortunately, this beautiful piece of history has suffered from years of neglect and requires a lot of specialised repair work. We we love to be able to completely restore this wall back to its former glory so our visitors to Church Gardens can enjoy it as much as the former owners, however, a project like this is hugely expensive. Kay and Patrick have devoted their lives to bringing this garden back to life and now open the gardens for the public to enjoy. We hope this page will give visitors, who feel as passionately as we do about this restoration project, the opportunity to donate further towards it.

    Thank you!

    Church Gardens Website

    Updates

    0

    Aideen McHugh

    Updates appear here

      4 years ago

      Aideen McHugh started crowdfunding

      Leave a message of support

      Page last updated on: 8/31/2021 13.54

      Supporters

      11

      • Jocelyn Menyhart

        Jocelyn Menyhart

        Aug 31, 2021

        Your efforts are astounding.

        £10.00

      • Anonymous

        Anonymous

        Jul 4, 2021

        Wonderful to see the work you have been continuing. Your vision and hard work have brought Church Gardens back to life.

        £20.00

      • Owen Edis

        Owen Edis

        Jun 24, 2021

        Fantastic family. Keep it up. Super visit today with Chorleywood Hort Soc. Thank you

        £20.00

      • Anonymous

        Anonymous

        Dec 28, 2020

        In recognition of the amazing work already achieved in the gardens and to help further the restoration of the wall.

      • John Malcolm

        John Malcolm

        Dec 5, 2020

        Just a small contribution towards funds. We so enjoyed your talk last evening. Great to see all the family together. Good luck for the future. John and Sue Malcolm

        £30.00

      • Anne Fairbank

        Anne Fairbank

        Sep 1, 2020

        Hope you get loads more donations for this worthy cause x

        £30.00

      • Maggie Pain

        Maggie Pain

        Aug 1, 2020

        A wonderful project, such an awe inspiring amount of work you’ve all done and continue to do. I really enjoyed my visit and now have a list of friends that I want to see it too.

        £50.00

      What is crowdfunding?

      Crowdfunding is a new type of fundraising where you can raise funds for your own personal cause, even if you're not a registered charity.

      The page owner is responsible for the distribution of funds raised.

      Great people make things happen

      Do you know anyone in need or maybe want to help a local community cause?

      Create you own page and donʼt let that cause go unfunded!

      About Crowdfunding
      About the fundraiser
      Aideen McHugh

      Aideen McHugh

      Report this Page