Garden Museum
Britain’s story of gardening told inside a rescued riverside church. The nave hosts nimble exhibitions on plants, people and design; side aisles trace tools, seed-swap ephemera and the rise of suburban plots. Outside, a compact courtyard garden proves how much beauty can be grown in a small urban footprint. History anchors it all: plant-hunters John Tradescant (father & son) rest in the churchyard, and naval gardener William Bligh lies nearby. Come for quiet green thinking, then climb the medieval tower for a wow-moment view of Westminster. Plan 60–90 minutes; reserve the café if it’s a weekend.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
The Nave Galleries
Big ideas about gardens in a small footprintFrom cottage borders to modern planting, rotating displays show how taste, tools and technology shaped British gardens.
📍 Main church space
Tradescant Tomb & Churchyard
Resting place of England’s great plant-huntersThe Tradescants’ ‘Ark’ of curiosities fed London’s fascination with exotic flora—seed by seed, voyage by voyage.
📍 South side of the church
Courtyard Garden
Urban planting as a living exhibitA pocket garden shows structure, seasonality and pollinator-friendly choices you can steal for a balcony or yard.
📍 Café terrace
Tower Climb
131 steps to perspectiveFrom the belfry, the Thames curve and Parliament snap the museum’s ‘green London’ story into place.
📍 West end spiral stair (ticketed/limited access)
Inspire your Friends
- Explorer–gardeners John Tradescant the Elder and Younger are buried here; their famed ‘Ark’ collection helped seed Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum.
- Admiral William Bligh (Mutiny on the Bounty) is buried in the churchyard; his later career focused on transporting breadfruit and improving naval victualling—gardening by another name.
- The museum exists because locals saved the deconsecrated church from demolition in the 1970s—creating Britain’s first museum dedicated to gardens.
