This website is about the Leechwell Garden Association. The Association was formed in January 2009 with the primary purpose of managing, in association with the landowner (currently SHDC), the public open space in Totnes known as the "Leechwell Garden" for the benefit of the people of Totnes. The Association is affiliated with the Royal Horticultural Society.
Contacting the LGA
You can contact the Association by email at info@leechwellgarden.org.uk. The email addresses of the current committee members are given here.
Donations
Running the Leechwell Garden is an expensive operation. The LGA raises money through the sale of plants and books and by applying for grants but if you would like to help us by making a donation please click the button below.
2024 AGM
The 2024 AGM will be held at the REconomy Cetre, Leechwell Street on Tuesday 10th December 2024, starting at 5:30pm. The AGM is a largely formal affair to elect officers and committee for the coming year and report our financial status. It's unlikely to last more than 30 minutes!There are vacancies on the committee so if you are interested in joining please come along.
Opening Times
The Leechwell Garden is open from 8.30am until dusk (or 8.30pm if this is earlier). From mid-April until September the garden will be open from 8.30am until 8.30pm, while as the days get shorter it closes earlier until by mid-December it's around 4.30pm. The garden is closed on Christmas Day.
Click on the map for a larger version, which also shows the location of Heath's Garden and the Lamb (Gardening for Health) Garden.
Holding Activities in the Garden
If you are interested in using the garden to host some sort of communal activity, please Shirley Prendergast, the LGA secretary.
Note that all activities in the garden are subject to some basic rules:
- public access to the garden must still be possible - the garden cannot be closed for private events
- although you may ask for charitable donations, you cannot charge for access
- the garden is meant to be relatively peaceful, so no loud, amplified music for example.
The Art of Leechwell Garden
About the LGA
The Leechwell Garden forms part of the Southern Area of Totnes, which until recently was open space devoted to horticulture. In the 1980's South Hams District Council acquired most of the land, built a road linking the top of the town with the Plains and began planning how to develop the area. Over the next twenty years several plans were produced but none were taken further.
In 2003 a local community organisation (Save Our Space, later Design Our Space) was formed to oppose the latest SHDC development plan for the area. The result was a community-generated plan for the area which involved building on four sites and creating a new public open space - the Leechwell Garden.
Funding for the initial development of the garden (some £150,000) was being provided by SHDC and Midas. In addition, DOS transferred the bulk of its remaining funds (£400 approx) to the LGA. The LGA applied for and was granted a £50,000 grant from Community Spaces. You can see all the application documents we have produced here.
You can find out more about various aspects of the LGA by clicking on the headings at
the top of the page. Click here for how you can help.
