Historical Events

Date: 1850s
Source: History of the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society (1929)

Date: 1850s
Source: History of the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society (1929)

Date: 14th July 1892
Source: original poster in Norfolk Record office, copy in PGPT archive
Points of interest: cheap trains from all over Norfolk, entrance cost 1s, fashionable oriental decoration (advertising by the oriental merchants Bonsor at the bottom of the sheet?), tickets sold by Jarrolds etc.
An EDP report next day said 4000 attended in spite of bad weather.


Date: 1911
Source: photographs c2003 by Sarah Cocke

Date: 1914-1919
Source: Page family album
61 men from the firm went to fight in the war, 10 of whom died. Every veteran who wished to return to the firm was re-employed, and the firm held the record in East Anglia for the number of discharged men they were training. (EDP 19.12.1919

Date: 1920s
Source: photo in PG archive
This photo was produced (at a talk given in June 2008) by the child of one of the people shown. She said that the lady in white and black hat in centre of 2nd row was the minister’s wife and the young man in the front row in pale trousers almost in front of her became a minister later.

Date: 1920s
Source: Photograph in PGPT archive
The wall in the background is the ‘medieval’ wall (Guide book 2009 p33).

Date: 1919/20
Source: Detail from photograph in Green family album

The balustrading and walls of the Italian terrace (Guide book 2009 p37) rise up behind the seated figures. The Gothic alcove (Guide book 2009 p34), covered with ivy, can be seen at the left, and there seem to be the remains of a large curved window (?) abutting the terrace wall in the centre.

Date: 1919/20
Source: Photograph in PGPT archive copied from Green family album
Other photographs exist of him and Mrs Green in various parts of the garden (PGPT059,062) and using it to entertain various groups of his staff, ministers, boys’clubs (PGPT060,061,063)

Date: 1930s
Source: photograph donated by George Plunkett to dissertation listed in PGPT341
It stood in the grounds of Heigham Grove House (see PGPT363), next door to The Grove, Joseph Gray’s house (see PGPT158,364/5). It was made of brick, as can just be made out in the photograph. A war time neighbour remembered that when a bomb demolished the house and tower on 27th June, 1942, his own nearby house was covered in red dust.

Date: c1990
Source: photograph by volunteer, probably Allan Sewell

Date: 1980s(?)
Source: photograph by volunteer

Date: 1980s
Source: photograph by courtesy of the Eastern Daily Press

The EDP had been persuaded to give publicity to the event.

Date: 1980s
Source: photograph by volunteer
However, much work remains to be done – the west bank is tumbledown, like the rockworks on the bottom left, the lower path is rough and the middle path on the left has hardly been cleared. And why the cavities on the lawn?

Date: March 3 1988
Source: photograph by volunteer Bruce Adam
Fortunately no-one was hurt, but afterwards much work was done to fill in the tunnels. Full reports appeared in the local daily and evening papers of March 4 and 5.

Date: 1990
Source: photograph by volunteer
The fountain can be seen working. On p3 it says that visitors were ‘able to work the fountain by a coin in the slot mechanism’. That does not seem to have become a regular feature!

Date: 1990
Source: photograph by volunteer


Date: 1998
Source: photograph in Trust archive

Date: 1998
Source: photograph in Trust archive


Date: 2001 or 2002
The ladies who made cakes and served teas deserve a special mention in the history of the PGPT, for they gave many hours of time and trouble to the numerous tasks involved in providing teas on the lawn on summer Sundays to an appreciative public. The result of their work was a considerable contribution annually to the funds available to the garden. Gretchen Mason, also Hon Sec at the time, was the first ‘Tsarina of the teas’ in 1999, Nancy Stewart (picture centre, in mob cap) was ‘Queen of the cakes’ and others since have carried on their very good work, giving up their summer Sundays to this cause.

Date: 2004
Source: Photgraph by volunteer
The very attractive planting in the beds originally within the Palm House can be seen here. Marjorie Wilson, Head Gardener, who designed and organised the planting of these beds, is on the right, talking to Sheila Adam (archivist) and Bruce Adam (chairman).
The small glasshouse was erected in 2000 with a grant from the lottery fund for the practical purpose of housing chairs and tables for Sunday teas. The design was copied from old photographs of the glazed entrance to the boiler house as seen in PGPT002

Date: 2004
Source: photograph by volunteer
Of interest: the restored pillar on the left, part of the collapsed retaining wall. it was rebuilt using materials found in the garden. The tree fern beyond it, gifted by a visitor. The recreated summerhouse at the top of the steps. The retaining wall on the West has not yet been restored.

Date: 2006?
Source: photograph by volunteer
A lot of work by volunteers was needed to keep this going, with rotas of servers setting out tables and chairs, preparing urns, washing up, laundering linen, requesting cakes from volunteer bakers and tidying up at the end of the afternoon. Sometimes very little money has been taken, sometimes there has been a great contribution to the garden funds.

Date 21st July 2005
Source Photograph by Pat Turner

Date: October 2007
Source: Photograph by volunteer


Date: 2007
Source: Photograph by volunteer


Date: October 2007
Source: Photographs by volunteer
In the background is another view of the collapse of the south west bank before the retaining wall was restored (see PGPT110, 092/3).

Date: October 2007
Source: Photograph by volunteer
Of interest also is this view of the side and top of the restored ‘Gothic alcove’ (see PGPT091,103).

Date: 2008
Source: photograph by volunteer
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