Grade I status for memorial gardens
8 February 2010
The Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens near Slough in Buckinghamshire has been re-evaluated by English Heritage and upgraded to Grade I status.
In making its decision English Heritage said the gardens were a unique example of a garden of remembrance unattached to a crematorium and 'of the highest design quality'.
The Gardens were laid out in the 1930s by renowned landscape architect Edward White VMH, who also created the rock garden at RHS Garden Wisley, although he later went on to specialise in memorial gardens. The central design is formal and includes rose parterres, colonnades, rills and pergolas, and there are also 140 more informal family gardens. A recent refurbishment included the return of 32 fountains which had not been working for many years.