The Plantation Garden — Attraction in Norwich

This is a small but beautiful garden, set in a old quarry just by the Catholic cathedral.

As it is a sunken garden in a former quarry, the gardens are sheltered from the cold North Sea winds that are often a feature of the Norwich climate. On a sunny, breezy Norfolk day, the Plantation Gardens can be an oasis of stillness and calm.

It is the British equivalent of a Japanese Garden, perfect for taking a date, reading, or engaging in a contemplative series of sit and stare moments. It is not a children's playground, or a picnic area. You can do all that 250 yards away in Chapelfield Gardens.

And that is the problem. The Plantation Gardens are too small to be too successful. As there are plenty of open spaces in the vicinity for children to play and picnicers to picnic, perhaps they need to build on its strengths and encourage quietude.

The city is noisy and narcissistic; it would be nice for nature and those of us looking for respite, to have a small place where silence and stillness is respected...

The Plantation Garden was absolutely lovely. A truly hidden gem. We've had connections with Norwich all our lives and never knew it was there.

It was nice to wonder round and admire the beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs as well as the magnificent architecture. There are several places to sit and just enjoy the tranquillity. You can view the gardens from up high if you choose to walk up some steps or you can stay on ground level and still marvel at the splendour.

You are allowed to have a picnic here but there are no picnic tables so bring along a picnic blanket.

There were several information plaques which we enjoyed reading to learn about the history of the garden and how it all came about.

Most of it was wheelchair friendly. We parked our car at St. Giles car park which was an 8 minute walk away and cost £2 an hour. The Plantation Garden we did in about one and a half hours.

There is an honesty box and it's £2 per adult which helps with the upkeep of the...

Genuinely hidden gem! The Plantation Garden is located on the Earlham Road next to the Catholic Cathedral and is a properly secret garden. The garden includes a wonderful gothic fountain, beautiful flower beds, well kept lawns, diverse woodland walkways, a rustic bridge, an Italianate terrace, a ‘Medieval’ terrace wall; and hundreds of fashionable 19th century architectural details . The garden is a restored Victorian town garden and is a former chalk mine. There is a £2 entrance fee by way of an honesty box. and the garden is open daily throughout the year. I would have given the garden an excellent rating but for a group of youths who were drinking and smoking drugs on the high terrace at the back of the garden, with a ghetto blaster playing, which rather disturbed the ambience and might be intimidating to...