Petersfield Physic Garden

Go to content
Petersfield Physic Garden is a private garden which is open to the public without charge, providing a green oasis in the centre of town. It is a garden created in a 17th Century style with distinct parts laid out for different purposes.

Physic gardens owe their name to the plants grown in them which were considered to contain medicinal properties. Generally the beds were of a defined geometric shape and laid out in a formal pattern. In addition to these formal herb beds, planted with such things as Woad (Isatis tinctoria), Selfheal (Prunella vulgaris) and Horehound (Marrubium vulgare), there is a topiary walk, a knot garden, an informal orchard with wild flowers and a rose arch. The 17th Century was also a time when many plants were introduced from the New World and there are borders planted with shrubs, roses and herbaceous plants which would have been familiar at that period.

A picture of Petersfield Physic Garden features in the Wikipedia entry for Physic Gardens.


A full colour brochure with a map, short history and details of the garden is available from the warden's office.


Garden news is now also available on Instagram.

RESTRICTED AREA


The ancient walls surrounding the Physic Garden are sadly now showing their great age. In particular the West wall with the curved coping stones is now in need of some tlc. Consequently the area surrounding the damaged part has been cordonned off until repairs can be carried out.
A Cosy Corner
The new seat, installed underneath a rose covered pergola, provides a cosy corner to view the long path leading to the topiary walk.
Photographs by Brian Robinson
Awards
The Physic Garden has now been awarded the prestigious TripAdvisor Hall of Fame 2019 Award for receiving their Certificate of Excellence for five consecutive years. This award is based on ratings recorded by visitors to the garden and can only be earned through consistently great reviews.
UK Registered Charity Number 1105681
History
In 1988 Major John Bowen made the generous gift to Hampshire Gardens Trust of a walled garden, one of the original 12th Century 'burgage' plots at the rear of 16 High Street, Petersfield. (A 'burgage', or borough, plot was usually a rental property, often a long site with a narrow street frontage, as found in many ancient towns.)
John Bowen had been incensed to read of the destruction of a site where rare orchids grew naturally and felt that he would like his garden to be held in trust for the education and enjoyment of the public whilst also playing a part in the conservation of wild and endangered plant species. Inspired by Chelsea Physic Garden, it was felt that the creation of a 17th Century style garden in three distinct sections would fulfil his purpose.
The original re-design of the garden in 1988 was created by Dr Sylvia Landsberg, a highly-respected pioneer in historic garden design. Working in collaboration with Major John Bowen and The Hampshire Gardens Trust, she designed the Physic Garden based on authenticity, meticulous historical research and Major Bowen's aims of providing a garden for education, enjoyment and conservation purposes.
An eminent resident of Petersfield in the 17th century was John Worlidge who might be described as an 'agricultural writer' and was the compiler of the first systematic treatise on husbandry on a large scale. One of his contemporary correspondents around 1681 mentions 'the ingenious Mr John Worlidge's contributions 'on a great improvement of land by parsley' and 'on improving and fyning of Syder'. Worlidge's 'Systema Agriculturæ, or the Mystery of Husbandry Discovered by J. W., Gent.' covers all manner of agricultural and garden practice and includes instructions on such matters as the cultivation, pruning and fan training of fruit. It ran to several editions well into the 18th century.
At the time of the introduction of formal physic gardens in Great Britain (Oxford 1621, Edinburgh 1670 and Chelsea 1673) John Goodyer, one of the most eminent botanists of the period, also lived and worked in Petersfield. It seems appropriate, therefore, that the emblem of the Petersfield Physic Garden is a flower bearing John Goodyer's name: Orchidaceae goodyera repens (Creeping Ladies' Tresses orchid). Goodyer grew and recorded many plants in detail and had an extensive library, both of botanical works and translations made by him. Although Goodyer was a steward for Sir Thomas Bilson of Mapledurham near Petersfield, he used his skill with plants to be a 'physic' or doctor to his family and neighbours. When he died in 1664 he left his library to Magdalen College, Oxford.
Back to content