In the spring of 2015 the British Parliament passed the The Modern Slavery Act. This garden is a celebration of that day. The garden also looks forward, to a day when there are no slaves.
The bright front doors and colourful planting illustrate the ordinary streets where we all live. But there is a darker centre to the garden, which hints at a hidden reality: people are still being kept in captivity and forced to work, in every part of the UK today.
Hope is depicted in the form of an English oak tree; it was under such an oak that William Wilberforce stood when he dedicated his life to ending slavery in the 1800s. The metaphor of a solid, dependable and faithful oak threads through the story of the garden, which ends with open doors leading to the path of freedom.
The bright front doors and colourful planting illustrate the ordinary streets where we all live. But there is a darker centre to the garden, which hints at a hidden reality: people are still being kept in captivity and forced to work, in every part of the UK today.
Hope is depicted in the form of an English oak tree; it was under such an oak that William Wilberforce stood when he dedicated his life to ending slavery in the 1800s. The metaphor of a solid, dependable and faithful oak threads through the story of the garden, which ends with open doors leading to the path of freedom.
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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.