Bridge End Gardens

[2] From 1838, his son Francis Gibson – who, as a Quaker, was interested in horticulture[3] and had also completed a garden design for his sister – began creating a new garden with the help of a local nurseryman William Chater (breeder of Chater Hollyhocks).

[4][5] Gibson considered the Dutch garden to be of utmost importance, and as such should be visible to visitors as they enter.

[3] The hedge maze (based upon the layout of the maze at Hampton Court Palace) was planted around 1870, and restored in 1984 with 11,000 yew seedlings,[5] by which stage the garden was under the management of a local agent and was used as a venue for shows by the Saffron Walden horticultural society.

[1] The site opened to the public in 1902 and the borough council took over responsibility for its management from 1918, designating it as a 'public pleasure ground'.

[6] The kitchen garden reopened between 2009 and 2011, and in 2015 introduced a visitors centre with toilets, designed to look like a converted toolshed.