A 79-year-old Peckham woman is on a mission to revive Peckham Rye’s American Garden, over 100 years after it was first built.
Since 2019, Nancy Coleman-Frank, who turns 80 next week, and is originally from Southern California, has raised roughly £75,000 in grants.
‘American gardens’ took root in Britain during the 18th century thanks to Peter Collinson – a London botanist who pioneered the import of plants and seeds from North America.
They were notable for their acidic soil and featuring American plants such as rhododendron, azalea, magnolia, and kalmia.
Nancy said: “Three or four years ago I was researching Peter Collinson and ran into the American Garden in Peckham Rye Park. I was dismayed by its condition and started the charity to reinvigorate it.
“We also want to support Peckham Rye Park, which is an important park used by everyone, and make it even more wonderful than it already is.”
Through grants given by Viridor Credits, the American Embassy and the Local Postcode Trust, the garden, first built in 1907, is gradually improving.
The money has been used for landscaping, acidifying the soil, and laying trees, plants and shrubs.
Most recently, modern benches were installed at the north, south and middle of the garden.
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The 2020 American Embassy grant came with a visit from US Ambassador Robert Wood Johnson who, alongside MP Harriet Harman, planted a celebratory maple tree.
Once the garden is established, Nancy hopes it will become a place of education – with readings, lectures and workshops held in its confines.
Nancy spent most her life in Southern California, where she worked as a teacher and academic, educating in early child education across the United States.
In 2017, love blossomed for Nancy who, through her work on the American Garden, met 92-year-old local Peckham historian, Derek Kinrade. They married in 2018.
Through her research, Nancy now believes Peckham may be home to a second, forgotten garden once owned by Peter Collinson, which may have been visited by Benjamin Franklin and Carl Linaeus, but is undertaking more research in order to verify this.
