Garden Museum
What Visitors Say
The tower is closed. They are trying to fundraise to reopen. The museum is worth visiting. The Rory McEwen exhibit was beautiful and touching. Make sure to visit the cafe. We were able to book a table online after being told they were fully booked.
Housed in St Mary’s Church, Lambeth is a the wonderful Garden Museum and Cafe. Specific exhibitions curated throughout the year. Good facilities for children, craft/drawing table, small ‘home’ play area, high chairs in cafe. The Garden Cafe menu looked great (see photos) and although we didn’t eat, we did sample the biscuits baked on the premises (choc chip and ginger/oat ‘Parkin’ biscuits) which were absolutely delicious! A crisp bite on the outside, soft but not too gooey or sweet inside. We will definitely return for lunch next time we visit for a further exhibition. Facilities were spotless and a small shop sells books, cards and small gardening tools, twine etc. Well worth the climb of 131 steps to a viewing platform with fantastic views over London (see photos) is an added bonus. The steps are uneven, tightly packed and circular with barely any passing space and no resting places, therefore may not be suitable or comfortable for some. Allow a morning or afternoon to do it justice.
The Garden Museum was a letdown. The nave itself is pleasant and free to walk through, which is probably the highlight. But paying to see a handful of gardening tools and photo displays felt overpriced and underwhelming. We grabbed a takeaway coffee, and the service matched the vibe—indifferent. The waitress barely looked up and just pointed, saying “stand over there.” Not exactly welcoming. The biggest disappointment, though, was the gardens. For a place with “garden” in its name, you’d expect something well-kept or at least interesting. Instead, they looked neglected—I’d be surprised if there’s a groundskeeper at all. All in all, it’s a pass unless you’re just ducking in for a quiet moment in the nave.
A beatiful interactive exhibition including de Gournay hand painted wallpaper for a temporary exhibition and Cecil Beaton's Oscar award, I enjoyed learning about the grand old tradition of English gardens and gardening. Loved playing with the garden game upstairs as well! Thank you
A lovely museum with lots of history and stuff to see. Unfortunately I can only give it 2 stars because they don't let you eat at there cafe unless you have a reservation and I would like to think if you pay to visit there museum you should have a right to get somethink to eat and a coffee. Also you pass is only for the day and not a year like some of the other museums in Central London and the indoor garden is small and very busy because it is a cafe too. I will also put a review on trip advisor.
Highlights
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)
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
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.
