Opening Times
Winthrop Gardens, Tea Rooms, Plants Sales and our 'Curiosity Corner' are open as follows:
Our OPENING PATTERN is as follows:-
WINTER - 1st November - 31st March
Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays
between 10.30am – 3.00pm
SUMMER - 1st April - 31st October
Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays
between 10.30am and 4.00pm
Winthrop has an annual 'Festive closure' from mid December to 1st February
Winthrop has occasional Saturday opening for Special events and activities
Our aim is to extend the opening days as / when there are sufficient volunteers to do so. We are sorry we are unable to open on Saturdays due to the particular shortage of volunteers able to volunteer on Saturdays
INTRODUCING WINTHROP GARDENS
Winthrop Gardens initially opened in 2005 as a therapeutic garden setting offering a sensory and healing space for the use and benefit of all. Wickersley Parish Council took over the management and running of Winthrop Gardens in February 2016 and the governance of Winthrop Gardens is undertaken through a sub Committee of the Parish Council.
Winthrop Gardens is led and run by a team of 80+ volunteers who tend the Gardens, assist with Plant Sales, provide refreshments in the Tea Rooms, support the Curiosity Corner and lead other activities
In addition our volunteers support a twice-monthly Memory Café for people living with dementia and their carers, a weekly Craft Class on Tuesday mornings and our very popular weekly 'Wednesday Walks'.
The team at Winthrop are working towards becoming a Dementia Friendly organisation and over 50% of our volunteers are trained as ‘Dementia Friends’ In essence - Winthrop is a community garden, run by the community, for the community.
THE GARDENS
A one-acre community garden, developed over the last fifteen years on the site of an old water treatment works, now owned by Wickersley Parish Council and maintained by volunteers. The garden was designed for peace and tranquillity with the emphasis on colour and scent. Features include an herbaceous border with many varieties of hardy perennials at their peak in mid-summer, a late summer flower border, a rose and wisteria pergola, a bee and butterfly garden and beds of highly scented English roses kindly donated by David Austin. Our Japanese garden has a large rare specimen of Robinia ‘Lace Lady’ and three white stemmed birches under planted with acers. Acer ‘Trompenburg’ has recently been donated by the Wickersley W.I. to mark suffrage for women. The Garden also contains a wide selection of ornamental trees including Betula pendula ‘Youngii’, Ginkgo biloba, Gleditsia ‘Sunburst’ and Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’. There are a selection of flowering crab apples, acers and conifers. A New Zealand garden features many less hardy plants from that region adjacent to a willow spiral. Seasonal bedding plants are used for bold impact.
Winthrop Tea Rooms
The Volunteer run Tea Rooms offer a Warm Winthrop Welcome to all visitors.
Our straightforward menu includes:-
Home made Soups served with a warm crusty roll and butter
Freshly made scones and cakes
Toasted teacakes and crumpets
A range of hot and cold drinks
Our Vintage Afternoon Teas for groups of 10+ - prior booking required
We are very proud that our Tea Room holds a 5 star Food Hygiene rating.
Vintage Afternoon Teas
May 2021 - for the immediate future we are unable to take bookings for Vintage Afternoon Teas, we will resume this provision as soon as is practicable. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Our Vintage Afternoon Teas are very popular and are available on any day but MUST be pre-booked by calling 07397 039 226.
Served on attractive linen tablecloths with delicate vintage china , your Vintage Afternoon Tea will comprise a selection of sandwiches and warm savouries; scones, jam and clotted cream and - as your finale - a selection of dainty cakes! And with as much tea and coffee as you need.
We also sell Vintage Afternoon Tea Vouchers which make a perfect gift.
Plant Sales
A range of very reasonable priced plants are on sale throughout the year. Many of the gardening volunteers can help with advice and tips about planting and ongoing care. Plants on sale include: perennials, rockery and alpines, succulents, shrubs, climbers and bedding plants. And as each year goes by more and more plants are grown and propagated at Winthrop.
Our 'all time' best seller is the Salvia Hot Lips!
Winthrop Curiosity Corner
Our Curiosity Corner has a range of interesting items kindly donated by supporters and friends.
We are always looking for more donations – jewellery, china, glass, children’s toys and books for adults and children are particularly popular!
Curiosity Corner operates on a ‘Donations basis’ and most items will have a suggested minimum donation, which you are very welcome to exceed if you find just item you’ve been looking for all your life!!
The Atrium
The Atrium offers excellent facilities for a range of recreational activities – like yoga or pilates; language classes; regular group meetings etc.
We are keen to encourage ‘regular’ hirers and where a ‘one off’ hiring is sought this will be at the discretion of the Organiser and consistent with the ethos of Winthrop and its community connections.
The facilities ….
Are bright, modern, clean and warm;
Are single storey;Jim
Comprise a large room which can seat up to 40 theatre style, 30 banqueting style;
Have two small counselling / treatment rooms;
A small kitchen with Tea / coffee making facilities;
Have toilets including facilities for people with disabilities
Have music playing facilities and a projector and screen.
Room hire rates
Regular hirers (min 4+ bookings) £10 / hour and £15 for 2 hours;
Casual hirers - £20 / hour
For more information and to make a booking -
Tel 07397 039226
Email: winthropgardens1@gmail.com
Other information you may find useful
Winthrop Gardens - Website Accessibility statement
Wickersley Parish Council / Winthrop Gardens is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability. We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.
This website endeavours to conform to level Double-A of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1. These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly for all people.
This site has been built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards compliant HTML/CSS code means any future browsers will also display it correctly.
We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the site up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime, should you experience any difficulty in accessing the website, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
If you wish to have any content of this site in an alternative format please do contact us.
Please phone the Winthrop Organiser on 07397 039226
Or email the Winthrop Organiser on winthropgardens1@gmail.com