A unique Victorian garden, with a twist

Kevin Lerwill

Gatwick Greenspace Partnership Officer

Located in a leafy residential part of Crawley, Worth Park is a fairly typical Victorian (8.5 hectare) town park that has been owned by Crawley Borough Council since the 1960s, but what makes it stand out from many others now has been the move away from non-native planting, short mown lawns and a reliance on chemical pest controls to more native plants (that are both more pollinator friendly and/or more resistant to our increasingly erratic climate), long grass areas and less harmful pest control methods.

Despite still looking like a formal town garden, the move to more sustainable and wildlife friendly horticultural management has largely been driven by the park’s current Manager, Stephen Peters and it is his passion for pollinator-friendly plants and the necessity to make the park more drought resilient that has resulted in the changes (water consumption, for example, has been dramatically reduced by 90% over the past six years.

Other examples of the improvements made over the past six years include:

• Ragwort (Jacobaea vulgaris), one of most unfairly maligned native plants, which is fantastic for pollinators, is not only tolerated here, but also allowed to spread in some areas.
• Approximately 88% of all cuttings and leaves are collected and re-cycled on site (for composting, mulch etc).
• At least 50% of all machinery used on site is electric.
• Native plant diversity has increased by over 50%
• The park includes no mow zones that are not cut until the autumn, although paths are maintained through and around them (these include native plants such as Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Spear Thistle, Yellow Rattle, Betony, Ragged Robin and Common Carrot).
• Over 100 new trees have been carefully selected and planted in recent years to complement the park’s historic tree collection (which includes both county and British champion trees).
• Dead hedges have been created using fallen branches and cuttings etc, which can provide shelter for a range of invertebrates over winter.
• Trees are given an extra thick layer of mulch around the trunk to help retain moisture, reduce the risk of compaction and encourage root development.
• New pocket wildflower beds have been created using bio-degradable fleece or coffee sacks, which are simply laid on top of the existing grass and covered with a layer of (nutrient poor) soil.
• A stumpery has been created around an old tree stump in a shady corner of the park.
• No concrete has been used for the sign-posts around the park 

Many of these methods can be replicated or adapted for any size garden, so it is not about size when it comes to making your garden or green space more wildlife friendly, and Worth Park is now an attractive oasis for both people and wildlife as a result of these changes. 

The park is supported by an active group of volunteers (Worth Park Friends) and it is proud to hold the National Collection of Achillea, the largest in the UK and is also a member of Plant Heritage, whose aim is to conserve the diversity of garden plants in the UK.

Over 68 bird species have been recorded in the park, including Tawny Owls. Bats roost in the old trees dotted around the park, and a Butterfly Orchid (which is classed as “near threatened with extinction”) was recorded here for the first time in 2024.

Worth Park was visited by myself and Barry Wildish - both Project Officers for the Gatwick Greenspace Partnership GGP in June 2025.

Our work aims to inform, educate and involve a diverse range of people from the local communities in our beautiful, natural surroundings. We want to see the local landscape more interconnected for wildlife and so we work with local authorities to support them in managing their land more sustainably and in partnership with others.