Wakefield wasteland transformed into £1.8m sculpture garden

A patch of wasteland in a “not exactly salubrious” bit of Yorkshire is to be transformed into a sculpture garden that will be one of the few public horticultural spaces to be created in the UK in decades.

The £1.8m Hepworth Wakefield Garden is set to open in late June on a strip of vacant land by the Hepworth Gallery, on the outskirts of the cathedral city.

It is designed by the renowned gardener Tom Stuart-Smith, a Londoner who has been pleasantly surprised by the relatively arid climate in what he called the “Costa del Wakefield – it’s much drier than Leeds, even though they are not far apart.”.

Reassured that his garden will not be too sodden by the relentless rain that drowns other parts of Yorkshire, he has planned an ambitious mix of trees and shrubbery for the 4,000 sq metre rectangular space, which he says will “mediate” between the concrete Hepworth and the redbrick Victorian mills on the other side. The garden will have its own identity and will be a visitor attraction in its own right, he promised: “It will not just be a doormat for the museum.”

Around 125 metres long, the garden will provide welcome breathing space from the fumes from nearby Doncaster Road. There will be nine-metre pin oaks, as well as spring blossom from cherry trees and magnolias, and vibrant pinks in autumn from sumac shrubs.

Four plinths will showcase a revolving selection of sculpture. “As a sculpture garden it may well work better in winter when everything is reduced to monochrome, unlike in summer where I always find flowers are a terrible distraction from sculpture,” said Stuart-Smith.

There will be no “keep off the grass” signs on the multiple lawns, which Stuart-Smith hopes will be a picnicker’s paradise, as well as a piazza for events and festivals.

He said the Hepworth was “very brave” to embark on the garden, which will be free to access and open 24 hours a day.

“It’s pretty rare that there is an example of an institution that’s prepared to stick its neck out like this and improve a bit of public realm and offer to curate it as well.” Usually any new green spaces or parks were created only as a planning condition of housing or commercial development, he said.

Plus, he said, “it’s not exactly what you would call a salubrious part of town – it’s petrol stations and sheds, largely.”

Being open all hours posed distinct challenges, said Stuart-Smith. “I have designed gardens in London open 24 hours a day and there can be real issues with syringes, people sleeping rough, people stealing things … Here, I have not put in any heavy shrubs for people to hide behind or do all the sort of stuff which people do in parks which you would rather they didn’t.”

But he was optimistic about the Hepworth garden, noting that the gallery had not been graffitied once in its eight-year existence.

Since it opened in 2011, the David Chipperfield-designed Hepworth has brought several million visitors to Wakefield, a city previously overlooked by tourists. In 2017 it was declared the Art Fund Museum of the Year, and it put half of its £100,000 winnings towards the garden project.

Arts Council England provided a further £499,999, with the Foyle Foundation pledging £100,000 and the Wolfson Foundation £150,000. A crowdfunder raised almost £45,000 more.

Simon Wallis, the director of the Hepworth Wakefield, said: “Over the last three years we have fundraised to create a major new visitor attraction and public garden for Wakefield. Once complete, it will be one of the largest free gardens in the UK.

“It will not only enhance the experience of visiting the Hepworth Wakefield but also create a world-class green space in this post-industrial part of the city for the benefit of local residents.”