Evolution of Clare's Gardens

Few college gardens in Cambridge tell a story as rich and layered as Clare’s. Over nearly four centuries, the College’s gardens have been shaped by adaptation, experimentation, and careful stewardship - transforming from flood-prone seventeenth-century meadows into climate-resilient landscapes today.

Sunken Garden, c.1950

1638–1690

Origins on the Water Meadows

The story of Clare’s Gardens begins in 1638, when the land that now forms the Fellows’ Garden was acquired from King’s College in exchange for a plot near King’s Chapel. Known as Butt Close, the Gardens consisted largely of water meadows along the River Cam that flooded frequently.

Access improved soon afterwards with the construction of Clare Bridge, designed by Thomas Grumbold, along with a causeway across the marshy ground. This causeway rested on a mattress formed from the heads of forty willow trees and was supported by brick walls.

Despite this early investment in infrastructure, the paddock remained largely undeveloped for decades. By around 1690, however, a defining feature was introduced: a lime tree avenue that created a formal axis across the open meadow, giving rise to the name “the Avenue” that persists today.

Diagrammatic Plan 1688, based on Loggan's Cantabrigiensis Ichonographia

The Lime Avenue by J. F. Greenwood

West Front from Fellow's Garden, Lamborn's View c. 1780

Masters & Fellows Garden, 1900

Scholars Garden, 1900

1880s-1920

Victorian Gardening

By the 1880s, the western half of the Fellows’ Garden had been planted as an orchard, while the eastern portion was more formally arranged. In the Victorian period, the eastern section was divided diagonally by a hedge running from south-west to north-east. A summerhouse was erected within the orchard, becoming a focal point surrounded by lawns and paths.

A vegetable garden was established, complete with walls used to support fruit trees.

Beyond this stood a row of elm trees along Garret Hostel Lane, forming a boundary to the garden. These remained until the 1940s, when they were felled after succumbing to Dutch Elm disease.

1930s–1950s

Postwar Decline and Redesign

By the 1930s, the Fellows’ Garden had fallen into neglect. The College acquired the nickname “the palace in the jungle,” a condition that persisted through the Second World War.

A turning point came in 1945, when Professor Nevill Willmer was appointed to redesign the garden. A physiologist and Fellow, Willmer drew on both his landscape painting and his scientific study of colour vision. He reimagined the space as a sequence of smaller, distinct areas, each defined by season, colour, scent, privacy, and use, while also composing “landscape pictures” intended to be viewed from particular vantage points.

His design retained existing features such as the swamp cypress, Judas tree, medlar, and the old brick wall, while removing the dying elms. Among his innovations were a vibrant summer display in warm colours along old riverbeds, and a Yellow & Blue Border forming a long vista that led to a yew-hedged “inner sanctum.”

One of his most distinctive additions was a sunken garden, inspired by a visit to Pompeii in 1926. With a central lily pool and carefully arranged steps and terraces, it created the illusion of greater depth.

He also introduced the “Dean’s Walk,” a path lined with white flowers, apparently inspired by the route paced by Dean W. Telfer while preparing sermons.

Notable trees were planted during this period, including a dawn redwood in 1948. Grown from seed collected during an expedition to China, this “living fossil” once thought extinct until its rediscovery, now stands at around 25-metres and remains a feature of the Fellows’ Garden today.

Plan of the Fellow's Gardens by Neville Willmer

Dean's walk

Dawn redwood tree

Flooded Fellows’ Garden, c.1978

Tropical garden

1970s-1990s

Floods and New Planting

In 1978, the rapidly rising River Cam flooded the Fellows’ Garden in under twenty minutes. Water levels rose as much as four feet in places, submerging large sections of the garden. To the Head Gardener’s dismay, students were reportedly seen punting over the submerged sunken flowerbeds.

Despite such challenges, the garden continued to evolve. New planting schemes were introduced under later stewardship, including a tropical garden by the then Head Gardener Steve Elstub which replaced an earlier scented garden from Willmer’s design.

2020s-Present

Climate-Resilient Planting

During the COVID-19 pandemic, and alongside major building works in Old Court, the Fellows’ Garden was temporarily used for construction storage, leaving it in need of renewal.

By summer 2023, when the building compound was removed, a new design by Alyson Tapp began to be implemented under the guidance of Head Gardener Kate Hargreaves. This plan retains key elements of Willmer’s vision, particularly the use of contrasting colour schemes and distinct garden “rooms,” while introducing new approaches intended to make the planting more resilient in the face of a changing climate.

A key initiative has been the creation of a dry garden, designed to thrive in hotter, drier conditions. The project incorporates innovative planting methods using rubble and crushed bricks left over from the building works as part of the growing medium. These materials improve drainage and increase drought tolerance—the river beds have required no watering since planting and the new scheme helps to create new habitats for wildlife, ensuring the garden continues to evolve while remaining ecologically rich.

Construction storage in the Fellows' Garden

New river beds, 2026