A corner of the Infirmarer's Garden,
Archbishop's Palace at Maidstone
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Infirmarer's
Garden, Archbishop's Palace at Maidstone
Click on the pictures
to see larger versions of the photographs
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The historic
Archbishop's Palace in Maidstone, situated next to the
River Medway, is now used as a Register Office for
Marriages. The Infirmarer's Garden, beside the Palace,
was designed and planted by Kent Gardens Trust in 1993
and is open to the public each Wednesday from May 1st to
September 30th between 11am and 4pm. |
| The Palace
would have been used by successive Archbishops of
Canterbury as an hotel to break the journey between
London and Canterbury. Whilst there is no evidence that
an Infirmarer's Garden ever existed, it is more than
likely. The Palace was used for entertaining and a
garden with culinary herbs would have been essential for
cooking in the days before refrigeration. The walled
Infirmarer's Garden contains a number of herbs that date
back to the time of a medieval herb garden. |
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During the
medieval period garden paths between flower beds were
made of turf, gravel, sand or stone. The Maidstone
Infirmarer's Garden is designed to allow access for
physically disabled visitors, so York stone to match
existing stone found on the site was used to form the
paths between the beds. |
| The beds
contain a mixture of culinary, medicinal and fragrant
herbs and are edged in oak. All the herbs have been
labelled by the Trust and a leaflet is available for
visitors explaining their history and uses. |
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