London Square Chelsea Pensioners Garden moves to its new home

The London Square Chelsea Pensioners Garden supported by leading property company London Square was awarded a prestigious gold medal at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. The Queen visited the garden, along with David Beckham, many other high-profile celebrities, and large crowds every day who flocked to see the Chelsea Pensioners in the exquisitely designed garden.

Every element of the garden, from the most fragile ferns to the slabs of York stone paving, has now been transported just 300 metres from its plot at the Chelsea Flower Show to its new permanent home in The Prince of Wales Courtyard in the grounds of the Grade I and Grade II* listed Royal Hospital, transforming the centre of the quadrangle. 

Moving the garden to its new  home was the idea of  London Square, inaugural corporate patrons of the Royal Hospital Chelsea. On discovering the passion many Chelsea Pensioners share for gardening, London Square proposed creating a garden designed specifically for the Chelsea Pensioners at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, which would then be relocated. 

Designer Dave Green  has overseen the move of over 2,000 plants, several large 6m/7m tall trees, along with 15 tonnes of York stone and British oak arches, from the showground to the Prince of Wales Courtyard, using an array of machinery including cranes, forklift trucks and diggers. 

Dave Green spent a year working closely with the Chelsea Pensioners and London Square to create a garden shaped by their stories and past experiences as a place for meeting up or for quiet reflection, while aiming to reflect the 333-year heritage of the Royal Hospital as: “a home for soldiers broken by age and war.”  

In its new home, the woodland garden is filled with striking trees, plants and shrubs, with a seating space  sheltered under elegant oak arches. The centrepiece of the garden is a British oak dining table designed and made by The King’s Foundation Snowdon School of Furniture workshops at Highgrove. The table is inset with a decorative brass map of the world, for the Pensioners to gather round and recall their service and travels and provide a talking point with family, friends and non-resident veterans who will be invited to visit the garden.    

Providing a splash of scarlet amongst the vibrant green planting is the seating upholstery and cushions for an elegant British oak curving seat. The cushions were specially made by prisoners' rehabilitation charity Fine Cell Work from recycled ceremonial Pensioners’ uniforms.  A plaque has been added to the garden to mark its journey from gold winning Chelsea show garden to its new home.