The year 2025 brought significant change within the Gardens team. Two long‑standing gardeners retired, while two others moved into new roles within the wider Grounds team. These departures opened opportunities for existing staff to progress into new positions, and the team also welcomed four enthusiastic assistant gardeners. With so much transition, it became clear that a team‑building activity would be beneficial, both to strengthen connections and to celebrate the team’s continued focus on raising standards in green‑space management.
During planning discussions, a willow‑weaving workshop was proposed as a way of bringing people together. The team invited local willow artist Kate Morrell to lead a two‑day workshop. Together with Kate’s guidance, the Gardens team created five adult and two young willow deer. The choice of deer was deliberate as the land on which the University now stands was a historic deer park until the English Civil War, and remnants of this medieval landscape are still visible in Burleigh Wood today.
Their location opposite the ECB entrance was chosen for both visibility and historical resonance, as this area retains the parkland character that existed here until the 1950s. The former hall at the centre of the deer park once stood to the east of the Bridgeman Building, making it entirely plausible that deer roamed in the very places where the willow sculptures now stand.
The installation is not only a celebration of the University’s heritage but also a showcase of the creativity, skill, and teamwork within our Gardens staff.
Rich Fenn-Griffin, Deputy Grounds Manager, commented: “When looking at the deer, we hope they transport you back to previous centuries when you could have looked from an east-facing window of Burleigh Hall and seen groups of deer in the park. We also hope you appreciate the many talented, often unseen individuals who support the University.
“I would especially like to thank Elliott Brown (Sustainability Manager) and Graeme Farmer (Grounds Manager) for their morale and financial support, and the Chaplaincy for the loan of their space. It’s wonderful when we collaborate, we achieve so much more than the sum of our parts”.