In 1999 Bromley Arts Council was granted Millennium Lottery Funding to create a Sensory Garden for the pleasure of all our able and disabled visitors.

Rather than choosing a thematic garden, which would mean the removal of many mature and healthy plants, our sensory garden was thoughtfully created to work with the existing environment rather than against it.

The area was designed and landscaped to include natural materials to form both sculpture and seating, in addition to which over ninety plants were carefully selected to stimulate our five senses of Touch, Smell, Sight, Sound and Taste.

The depth of colour found with the foliage and richly coloured blooms of the Cotinus Royal Purple and Cistus Dansereaui, together with the intoxicating scents of the Choisya Aztec Pearl and the Santolina Incana attract not only our own olfactory and visionary senses but those of bees, butterflies and birds.

Wildlife is an important benefit to any garden: the Song Thrush and Robin will often be seen eating from the fruit of the Pernettya Mucronata and dropping their seeds to encourage germination.

Marjoram Vulgare and Rosmarinus Officinalis are aromatic and tactile herbs chosen to stimulate the palate, whilst the occasional popping of the pods from the Cytisus Scoparius, as they twist and fall from their branches, provides a welcome and stark contrast to the city noise.

We hope this naturalised balance of planting will provide our visitors with a tranquil environment to relax and restore a physical and mental sense of well-being, far removed from the bustle of everyday life.

Open Monday to Friday 10am-4pm by prior arrangement with the Administrator. Please telephone 020 8464 5816 for further details.

UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS AND WORLD CINEMA