This garden, on Vale Street Denbigh, is notable as an unusual small Victorian garden commemorating Dr Evan Pierce. The garden provides the setting for a memorial column to Dr Pierce who was a local doctor, Justice of the Peace, County Coroner and five times re-elected Mayor. Unusually, the garden was created and dedicated to the doctor whilst he was alive instead of posthumously. Dr Pierce himself donated the ground which stood opposite Salisbury Place, the town house where he lived and worked. Subscriptions were raised locally, between 1872 and 1876.
The garden is surrounded by buildings and bounded by stone walls on all but the north side, facing the street, where it is bounded by iron railings. The garden is dominated by its central feature, a tall stone column topped by a statue of Dr Pierce.
The Tuscan column, 72 ft high and made of limestone from the Graig Quarry, Denbigh, was designed by Martin Underwood. The statue, of Sicilian marble, is by W. & T. Wills. The column stands on a base of six stone steps leading up to a pedestal, with rectangular relief panels by M. Raggi set into three sides. The column was unveiled on 23 November 1876, and the panels were added in the 1880s (409540). On the street side is an inscription detailing Dr Pierce's good works, positions et cetera, and giving the date of the foundation stone being laid (1874), and the work unveiled (1876).
The garden is laid out with gravel paths, a lawn, and two fountains, and is planted mainly with conifers. The paths are bordered by stone edging with sockets for iron railings, now gone. On either side of the central path in front of the column are the two ornate cast iron fountains presented by Dr Pierce in 1887 to commemorate the queen's golden jubilee year (33224 & 32692).
Beyond the column is a rectangular lawn with gravel walk and perimeter beds around. Plantings include wellingtonia, cypresses, pine and Irish yew.
Sources:
Cadw 1995: Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales, Clwyd (ref: PGW(C)66).
Denbighshire Historical Transactions, Vol.15 (1966), `A Visit to the Town of Denbigh?
Denbighshire Historical Transactions, Vol.48 (1999) `Dr Evan Pierce of Denbigh?
RCAHMW, 5 July 2022