Brendan Sims, Head of Gardens and Landscape at Emmanuel will tell us about his journey and the work that he and his team undertake at Emmanuel. Formerly Head Gardener at Middlefield, an 11 Acre Lutyens Country House in Stapleford, he was responsible for the restoration project of a garden wall, inspired by Jekyll and Arts and Crafts House and Gardens.

Alongside the hustle and bustle of the bus station on Drummer Street lies what Brendon describes as the “secret, hidden oasis” of the Emmanuel College gardens.

Built on the site of a Dominican priory dating back to 1238 and founded in 1584, Emmanuel, with its chapel designed by Sir Christopher Wren, encompasses almost 12 acres of beautiful gardens just beyond the bus station walls.

Brendon and his team of 10 gardeners were delighted when ‘Emma’ was nominated two years ago as a Royal Horticultural Society ‘unmissable garden’ – one of 12 finalists along with Blenheim Palace.

Seeing himself very much as a custodian of the gardens, Brendon prides himself on the work he is doing to educate the next generation of gardeners and believes that horticultural training and biodiversity will be his legacy.

He is working with other colleges to create a connective ribbon of meadow planting from the council beds in Christ’s Pieces, through Christ’s College, to Emmanuel’s wildflower meadow in North Court, through to the gardens of the graduate student houses the college owns on Park Terrace.

This wildflower planting is a modern take on the traditional ‘ribbon’ planting of the Victorians, creating a wildlife habitat corridor that then links up with the efforts of other college gardens across the university, increasing the sustainability and biodiversity of the city.