A Garden For Peace and Quiet

This photo was taken at the site of the former Quaker Burial Ground in High Wycombe. At the top of the site, just between the two tall trees in the background, is a plaque that reads:

'From 1665-1913 this site was used as a burial ground by the Society of Friends called Quakers, who gave it to the town in 1937. In 1985 as part of the Saffron Platt and Northtown General Improvement Area Programme, it was cleared and landscaped by Wycombe District Council and became a formal garden. The Garden was opened on the 19th July 1986 by the Vice-Chairman of Wycombe District Council, Councillor L. D. Hampton.'

Our Local Meeting has recently received a grant from Wycombe District Council to further landscape and improve the area as an amenity for the community. Our vision is to create a Peace Garden which will include information about the Quaker peace testimony and the role of Quakers in the First World War, with inscriptions of the word 'Peace' in the different languages of the High Wycombe community. We also plan to affiliate to the Quiet Gardens movement, to draw people's attention to it as a place which offers a space for tranquillity and rest from the busyness of everyday life.