Centuries-old graveyard transformed into thriving community garden

A city centre graveyard which has been transformed into a thriving community garden after years of planning has been hailed a success.

Greenhill Gardens, as it’s known, opened last year at Matthew’s House, High Street, Swansea, after a major project involving landscape architects, Church in Wales, heritage body Cadw and Swansea Council, among others.

The graveyard was scanned with digital cameras and historical records pulled together. Headstones were documented, lifted and stacked horizontally into sculptures. Trails were laid, flowers and trees planted, insect houses and benches installed, and names of 4,200-plus people buried there added to new habitat walls following painstaking research.

“We love the heritage,” said Thom Lynch project leader at Matthew’s House, which helps people dealing with homelessness, mental health issues and addictions. “There’s a lot of stories there, but a lot of stories were missing.”

The former graveyard surrounding what used to be St Matthew’s Church on three sides had been in existence since the 1700s. The last people buried there, said Mr Lynch, were laid to rest around 70-80 years ago.

A report by Matthew’s House said the graveyard had become overgrown when it took over the site in 2016, with headstones scattered and unsafe.

And it sprang a few surprises when work started on the new garden.

“We didn’t realise there would be so many empty crypts,” said Mr Lynch. “There were around 50 of them – we only believed there’d be a couple.”

He said the crypts – some brick-cased and some containing remains – were voids which sometimes ran very deep. They were carefully filled in, the ground stabilised and any remains left in situ.

Mr Lynch said the community garden, which is open to the public from 8am to 4pm during the week and 3pm to 9pm on Sunday, has been well-received although relatives of one person buried there had “tussled with it” initially.

He said: “Many people come into the garden and go: ‘Wow.’ There is a bit of awe. First impressions make a difference for people like us.

“We’ve got a couple of solid volunteers looking after it – watering and weeding. It has been really positive.”

Mr Lynch said nearby support services popped over and had their lunch in the garden and that schools and Scout groups have also paid visits.

He said a man who checked out the garden while having his car tyres changed nearby was now a long-term supporter.

The garden includes an interactive heritage trail using a QR code which invites people to step back in time and “imagine the clatter of horse drawn carts, the chatter of market stalls, and the determination of workers shaping Swansea’s future”.

The former church was once known as St John-juxta-Swansea and dates back to around 1165, when Robert son of Walter gifted lands to the Knights Hospitaller to build a chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist. It eventually became a parish church.

The city centre in which it’s located used to be known as Greenhill – hence the name of the garden – and it had its challenges. “Housing was crowded, sanitation poor, but bonds between neighbours ran deep,” said a Matthew’s House web page about the site.

Among the people buried at St Matthew’s Church were Josiah and Jane Padley, who had 17 children of which seven survived infancy. Josiah, whose drinking often to led to violent behaviour, murdered his wife in April 1884 and then took his own life. Jane’s grave is now marked as part of the project to keep stories like hers alive.

Wildlife has found a niche at the garden. “We’ve had butterflies, bugs, tonnes of cobwebs, a hedgehog and a bird of prey,” said Mr Lynch.

Matthew’s House holds events there and served 120 pizzas from the outdoor kitchen area last Christmas.

Inside the former church are showers, washing machines, a cafe and staff providing advice and support. Matthew’s House also has its own choir. The project is run by the nearby Hill Church – a charity and limited company.

Mr Lynch said new gates are to be fitted at with timers and codes which would allow more access to Greenhill Gardens outside of normal hours.

He said donations and “work in kind” from various people had lowered the cost of the project considerably to a figure of £340,000. This included a generous donation of plants from Swansea-based Victoria Wade Landscape Architecture, which worked on it throughout.

Reflecting on the scheme, Mr Lynch said the hardest part was persuading the relevant authorities “to believe in the opportunity”. He said there was lots of interest from heritage experts now that it was up and running.

“Children’s visits so far have been fantastic – that’s the bit I would like to grow,” he said.

Cllr David Phillips, who got married at St Matthew’s Church, said he and his fellow Castle ward councillors were strong supporters of Matthew’s House.

“It provides such a necessary service to those in difficulty – providing a clean space and a very warm welcome,” he said.

Cllr Phillips said the new-look design using gravestones and historical information boards was “fantastic”. He added: “It reminds us of the long history of care by this church at this site,” he said.

Mr Lynch is also chairing a new board which will help shape a 10-year project called North Gate Swansea.

It’s focusing on areas including upper High Street, Dyfatty and Waun Wen which form the northern gateway into the city, and up to £20 million of UK Government funding is available.