By kind permission of The Bourne Society, we attach an article written by Joy Gadsby about the history of the Garden.

The Garden was created by Eric Wettern, who purchased the land before the first World War. He began developing it as a garden after the War. Many of the specimen trees in the Garden were grown from seed which he collected in 1922 during his travels abroad.

Eric Wettern was determined never to allow his garden to become a building development and in 1965 he gave it in trust to Croydon Council for the benefit of the public.

The next page shows some early photographs of the Garden.