13/08/2026
What a great piece of history to uncover.
We are so lucky to have the Walled Gardens in Worden Hall and Park in Leyland being restored by Rooted Connections CIC. 👏
Have a look at their page for more information 👍🏻
🌿 250 Years of Worden Walled Garden
Chapter 4 – Who Built the Walled Garden?
If I asked you who built the Walled Garden...
Most people would probably answer:
"The Faringtons."
And, in many ways, they'd be right.
But history isn't built by one person.
It's built by many.
While researching the garden, we came across this remarkable page from **Sir William ffarington's cash book.
At first glance, it's just a list of payments.
Look a little closer...
..and the people behind the garden begin to appear.
🧱 Addison – supplied 58,000 bricks.
📏 Matthew Clitherow – worked on the garden walls before later measuring them.
🪨 Robert Gudgeon – supplied the coping stones that have protected the walls for nearly 250 years.
🔨 John Sumner – crafted the ironwork for the heated flue doors.
🌳 And perhaps our favourite entry of all...
On 8 January 1778, Giles Boardman supplied ten peach and nectarine trees.
Just a handful of names.
A few entries in an old account book.
Yet together, they tell the story of the people who physically created one of Lancashire's finest historic kitchen gardens.
They probably never imagined that, almost 250 years later, people would still be reading their names.
Or that the walls they helped build would still be standing.
History often remembers the people who commissioned great places.
But places like this were built by craftspeople.
Brickmakers.
Bricklayers.
Blacksmiths.
Gardeners.
People whose legacy isn't found in statues...
..but in work that simply stood the test of time.
As we restore the Walled Garden today, it's impossible not to think about those people.
We know so little about their lives.
Yet every volunteer, visitor and child who walks through these gates is benefiting from the care, pride and craftsmanship they left behind.
Perhaps that's the greatest legacy any of us can hope for.
Not to be remembered for our names...
But for the difference we leave behind.
🌿 Writing the next chapter by uncovering the last 250 years.
📖 From the archives: Sir William ffarington's cash book records payments to the people involved in constructing the Walled Garden during 1777–78, including 58,000 bricks, work on the garden walls, iron flue doors, and ten peach and nectarine trees.
💚 Next week: The Gardeners Who Brought It to Life.
Which of these names caught your attention most? We'd love to know in the comments—and if you have family stories connected to Worden Hall or the Walled Garden, we'd love to hear those too.
