The RAF Benevolent Fund Garden

A young pilot looks nervously up at the sky, watching dogfights unfold overhead, waiting for the call to return to his spitfire and to the battle – the Battle of Britain.

A stone spiral wall surrounds and protects the sculpture. Enclosed within, a curved larch seat allows the visitor to sit and look up at the pilot and imagine the view he would have seen. Latticed steel panels emerge from the ground among the rubble, the rusted remains of conflict slowly being covered by beautiful planting.

The RAF Benevolent Fund has been providing support to veterans, serving personnel and their families for more than 100 years. Its garden celebrates the help and protection the charity has continued to provide from the First World War to the present day.

Planting design by: Rossana Porta