Buckfast Abbey Millennium Garden

The garden setting is a tranquil scene. At its heart, a stag in a glade of silver birches drinks from a pool. Around this vignette is a meandering path reminiscent of a river bed.

Naturalistic planting and sculptural stumps reflect the ebb and flow of woodland life – dead wood is part of the cycle that nourishes the land. Three Gothic arches provide a framework through which the garden is seen and set the religious context. The central oak window frames the stag, recreating Buckfast Abbey’s logo. Between the arches are walls of rustic logs capped by sinuous deadwood branches, and hornbeam hedging defines the back and sides of the design. Log seating at the back corners presents areas for quiet reflection, while silvery foliage and a blue-and-white planting palette lend a sense of tranquillity. The garden commemorates Buckfast Abbey’s upcoming millennium.