To celebrate the Centenary of Singleton Park being in public ownership FSBG commissioned a bi-lingual commemorative panel with financial support from Swansea Council . It is displayed in the Botanical Gardens.
This panel was unveiled by descendants of the Vivian family on Sunday 4th August 2109.
There is something to see throughout the year in the Botanical Gardens. The herbaceous borders are a fantastic sight from late March until mid October and the variety of glasshouses offer shelter in inclement weather. So even during the harsh winter months the garden has lots to offer.
In 1919 the private estate of the wealthy Vivian family was bought by the Swansea Corporation for use as a public park. In 1926 the Educational Gardens were officially opened as a “collection of economic plants and British flora”. Renamed in 1991 as the Botanical Gardens they contain a renowned double herbaceous border and many mature trees of national importance. In addition there are fine specimens of rare and exotic plants from around the world as well as a rock garden, herb garden, and the new wildflower garden which opened in 2017.
The 40 metre double herbaceous borders were part of the original Educational Gardens created in the 1920’s and their layout is little changed since those times. It is entirely possible that some of the plants found here are divisions of those originally planted.
You will find fine specimens of rare and exotic plants from around the world. You will find the glasshouses in the botanical gardens at Singleton park.
The Botanical Gardens in Singleton Park are open daily from 10 am.
Please note that not all facilities will be open. This includes the Glasshouse and some toilet facilities in Singleton Park.
The private estate of the wealthy Vivian family is bought at auction by the Swansea Corporation for the sum of £90,000 for use as a public park.
The new Singleton Park is “thrown open to the public on a Sunday”. Park Superintendent Daniel Bliss, who trained at Kew Gardens, began his ambitious plans to oversee the transformation of the park and garden.
The Educational Garden officially open to the public on May 25th as a “collection of economic plants and British flora”.
Part of the Garden is turned over to growing vegetables for the Dig for Victory campaign. In 1944 over 1500 American troops were billeted under canvas in the wider park. After training on local beaches the troops left for the D-day landings on Omaha Beach, Normandy.
By the sixties, the Educational Gardens employs 6 gardeners and 2 apprentices to tend to the increasingly important collection of plants.
After sixty years the original wooden glasshouses had become unsafe. Over the next few years they are demolished and replaced with aluminium structures which survive to this day.
A superb ornate eighteenth century pond and fountain dated from 1773 is moved from Castle Gardens to this site.
The Educational Gardens are renamed as the "Botanical Gardens"
Run by a group of volunteers, the Friends of the City of Swansea Botanical Complex , FCSBC, is founded with the aim of supporting the work of the Botanical Complex.
With financial help from FCSBC, Tŷr Blodau building is opened. This purpose built education and visitor centre hosts a programme of activities related to horticulture and wildlife as well as being available for hire.
FCSBC raises funds and opens an extension to the Botanical Gardens. The Wildflower/ Wellbeing Garden is the latest page in the Gardens’s story – it is a “little slice of wild” created among the more formal setting of the traditional Botanical Gardens.
Friends of Swansea Botanical Gardens
The Botanical Gardens, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 9DU, United Kingdom
FSBG is a registered charity No. 1052032
FSBG : 2024
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