Vacant site to community ecosystem

Creating the Winslade Urban Forest Garden has been an incredible journey for south London-based community group Bridgehouse Gardens. Together, they have transformed a disused, vacant tarmacked site into a thriving forest garden and creating a new community learning space, The Winslade Barn. The forest garden was made possible by funding from Veolia, the initiative combines sustainable gardening techniques with timber self-build construction principles, bringing together local residents to create green spaces and a new venue for learning and workshops.

Previously an underused site, the area was transformed using Hügelkultur, a no-dig permaculture technique that creates highly fertile mounds using woodchip, timber, and organic matter from local tree surgeons. This approach, combined with forest garden principles, has established a resilient ecosystem for wildlife, turning the space into an all-year-round green habitat with edible shrubs and trees like blackberries, raspberries, and apple trees.

Our new space, The Winslade Barn, was built as part of this project and serves as a vibrant learning and event space for the community. The project was a participatory build with local residents, allowing us to learn new skills through a series of free workshops.

These workshops taught principles of self-build, timber frame construction, cladding, and furniture making. The Bridgehouse Garden team worked alongside Public Works to deliver this project. The space will continue to host events in the coming year. We hope this transformation provides a valuable resource for the community but also strengthened local ties through shared design and construction efforts.

Big thank you to Rakesh Rootsman Rak (a Transition Together Network Weaver) for hosting a series of fantastic forest garden design workshops at the beginning of the project to guide the design of the garden, and provide valuable wisdom about creating new habitats on sites without soil! 

We hope this project sets a precedent for more self-build initiatives like it. If you are interested in delivering something similar or collaborating on a project, we would love to hear from you at bridgehousegardens@gmail.com.