History

Oxhey Open Gardens began in 1994 with just five gardens and the Paddock Road allotments. The concept was to create an afternoon where neighbours and residents could enjoy each other’s company in convivial garden settings, accompanied by lovely homemade cakes and tea.

From the original two gardens, we now have over twenty gardens participating in the event on a regular basis. Oxhey Open Gardens has become an institution, eagerly looked forward to each year, and attended by over three hundred keen gardeners annually.

Over the years enthusiastic visitors gathered new ideas and plants for their own gardens and raised money for local charities. The Peace Hospice in Watford,  now known as Peace Hospice Care, has been the main recipient of money raised.

Behind ordinary terraced facades, you are constantly surprised by the exciting and creative gardens waiting to be discovered.

Our belief is that every garden has a special point of interest, and is worthy of visiting.

 

About Oxhey Village

Oxhey is a small village with a vibrant community spirit, situated between Watford and Bushey. There have been settlements at Oxhey since Saxon times but the village mainly expanded between 1830 and 1918 with the extension of the railway from London to Watford and the building of Bushey Station.  The earlier Victorian terraces were built to house the railway workers and the convenience of Bushey Station for London commuters attracted further building during the Edwardian era.  

Due to its favoured situation on the edge of Green Belt, Oxhey has been able to maintain some of its ancient rural atmosphere including two green open spaces and the beautiful prospect of Attenborough’s Fields, a well-kept secret, which stretches from Oxhey through Merry Hill towards Harrow, supporting a multitude of wildlife.