The Concept

The story is strong. It is the story of the regeneration and revitalisation of the area. While celebrating east Kent’s mining heritage, the garden depicts the transformation of a former colliery site into a sustainable park for education, sustainable business and community use. 

Named Green Seam, the Hadlow garden for Hampton Court is designed by Bethany Williams and Stuart Charles Towner, both of whom will graduate with BA (Hons) in Garden Design from Hadlow College/University of Greenwich later this year.Their design depicts the transformation of the colliery site into a sustainable park that offers new hope for the surrounding communities: the black seam of coal becomes the green seam of hope.The garden demonstrates how pioneer plant species can colonise apparently hostile environments such as spoil heaps and transform them into places of beauty.

It shows the contrasts between the dark colliery spoil and the vivid greens and pinks of pioneer plants such as Chamerion augustifolium tempered by the whites and silvers of birches and aspens.The framework of native plants featured in the garden supports indigenous wildlife. A black wall represents the coalface and divides the space between the ‘wild’ spoil heap and the ‘tamed’ garden.Coal pillars represent the miners; a lift cage symbolises the miners’ daily descent to the mine workings. Black opaque pillars represent the future.