Winston Churchill Memorial Gardens

Winston Churchill Memorial Garden is a small urban park discreetly tucked behind the Lower High Street shops. It was originally used as a cemetery until it was purchased by the Borough Council in 1965 and developed into the garden seen today. The gardens have a number of historical elements such as the iron entrance gates, pergola, clipped yew avenue, and St Mary's Mission building. It is still possible to see some of the headstones along the northern perimeter wall.
The garden includes a play area, and informal area, and a small community orchard. There is also a formal garden with a perennial planting scheme, along with words, phrases, and simple line drawings gathered from local children and adults to symbolise how they feel about the gardens. The images are pressed into blue engineering bricks, once used on the railway line that runs parallel to the gardens. The project was jointly funded by Cheltenham Borough Council, the Lower High Street Partnership and the Regional Arts Council.