The dream of a custom-designed garden for use by school children in Thornbury to grow their own fruit and vegetables has come true after four years.

A team working on Cotswold Homes’ development in Tytherington, The Paddocks, spent a week at Thornbury’s Christ the King Catholic Primary School creating the garden, shortly before the school closed as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

The garden includes three raised beds, a greenhouse and even a ‘prayer area’ which has been blessed by Fr George Malecki, parish priest at Christ the King Church.

Access to the garden is by gravel paths behind a new fence and secure gate.

“The Cotswold Homes team was highly professional and finished the work to an extremely high standard,” said the school’s head teacher Mary Mainwaring.

“Our school motto is Making a Difference and the team which created our garden has certainly done that!

“Pupils and staff are thrilled with the new garden which has changed a piece of waste land into a valuable teaching resource.”

Mary added that the garden is big enough for all 180 of the school’s four to 11-year-old pupils to make use of.

“Gardening is therapeutic and they will enjoy hands-on learning about the growth process and how seeds can become delicious vegetables and fruits,’ she explained.

“Perhaps this will be the trigger which, for some of them, leads to a career in horticulture in the longer term.”

More information about the development is available in Cotswold Homes’ marketing suite at The Paddocks in Duck Street.