Darrington Parish Council
The Orchard
Up until the winter of 2015, the space between Church Lane and Phillips Lane, behind the Old Rectory was so overgrown it was impossible to actually see - from either road all that could be viewed was a thick wall of tree and bush.
The area was known to belong to the Church and originally housed the first Rectory and garden centuries ago. We believed that lost in there was an ancient orchard and who knew what else, and decided to turn the area into an attractive and useable area for the villagers once more.
The initial clearing took place on the 5th December with some of the councillors but more importantly with local farmer Pete Batty, his machines and some of his workers who all incredibly kindly offered their help.
Without them it would have been almost impossible to clear by hand so we are eternally grateful for their help!
That initial clearout revealed a deceptively huge area, which included an ancient orchard at one end and a Tudor wall which most likely created a walled garden once upon a time.
Villager Stu Oakes donated his time and business in jet cleaning to help us restore the wall to some of its former glory, and with some further clearing days with councillors and volunteers over the spring of 2016 the orchard was ready for seeding.
Since then, the grass has developed well, and the Orchard has been tidied and pruned with the help of specialist Richard brown. We asked villagers for ideas about what we could do with the orchard but church rules have so far left us struggling to provide much more than a pleasant open space in the heart of the village, but hopefully 2021 will see us come with an idea that works for everyone.
