It is something of a mystery as to when the Garden was first set out.  However, it is generally believed that they were laid out in the 19th Century and most of what you see as you walk around was laid out in the 1840's.  At that time, the Gibson family owned the Garden.  They were eminent Quakers and had banking and brewing interests.  Their name can still be seen inside Barclays Bank, on the Market Square, a building from which they operated their business at that time.

The Gibson family house was situated elsewhere in the town.  The family would have walked the relatively short distance from Castle Street to enjoy their creation.  They would have employed a number of gardeners because the upkeep would have been very demanding.  At that time, the Walled Garden produced fruit and vegetables for the family. 

Francis Gibson was a great art collector with a wide ranging interests in the arts.

If you look around the Garden you will see a number of stone plaques set in different walls.  Two, for example, are dated 1839 and 1840.  There is also one of 1813 and another Coade stone of 1794.  However, it is questionable whether the latter stone was originally part of the Garden and it may have been imported from elsewhere.  Have fun searching for these plaques!  Look for the inscription F.E.G 1840 that is chiselled into the brickwork on the entrance gate on one of the entrance gate piers to the Maze.  The inscription stands for Francis Edward Gibson who was only a young boy at the time and it conjures up a delightful Victorian picture of a young boy carving his initials, possibly with the help of the Head Gardener or his father, Francis Gibson.

The Garden was at its peak during the late 1800's.  After the First World War the Garden slipped into gentle decline, a process that accelerated over the subsequent years and which was well advanced by the 1950's.  The Garden continued to decline in the second part of the 20th Century when lack of maintenance and vandalism taken their toil.

The Garden was of sufficient interest to be visited by the famous landscape artist Gertrude Jeykll who drew a plan of the Dutch Garden in 1912.

It is hoped that the restoration progress 2003 – 2008 will secure the future of the Garden for at least the next 100 years.