Dr George Rice Community Garden
Dr George Rice Community Garden
Creating a garden for all the Community
There is a patch of land beside St Nicholas Church. It's right by the civic offices and under the shadow of the Gibson Road car park.
The plot of land was overgrown. It had become an area that is associated with litter and anti-social behaviour.
We are guided by a vision for a new community garden right in the heart of Sutton. A space for all community groups to use, whether young or old.
Since we were granted the license to occupy the land in March 2022 we have managed to achieve a massive transformation of the overgrown site.
So many people have contributed to the garden. Bulbs have been planted, the grass turned into something approaching a lawn, saplings and overgrowth cleared from half the site, and flower beds (minus flowers) have been created, benches repaired and a memorial wall created. And fruit trees have been planted.
Are you interested in helping?
Contact: jeff@suttonfx.com or join the Friends of Dr George Rice Community Garden on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/drgeorgericegarden
Dr George Rice
Dr George Rice BA, MB, C-M Edin (1848-1935) was an African American physician who trained in Edinburgh under Sir Joseph Lister.
Sir Joseph commended Dr Rice for his ‘exceedingly efficient manner’ and ‘indefatigable zeal’.
Dr Rice came to Sutton in 1884 with his family and took up the position of Resident Medical Officer at the South Metropolitan District School on Brighton Road.
He conducted a successful practice within Sutton. He filled many local appointments that included the position of public vaccinator for Sutton, Cheam, and Carshalton.
He worshipped at St Nicholas where his children were baptised.
The Theology
This is a shared community project to bring life back into a patch of waste ground is a communal act of hope.
It presents Christians with a chance to be able to share their faith with others in a work setting, outside of a Church building but in a context that has deep spiritual significance.
"For the Lord will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. " Isaiah 51:3
Each of us is not only a creature or product of God’s creation, we are also sub-creators with him. We are called to the work of the kingdom within the world.
"What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honour, subjecting all things under their feet." Hebrews 2:6-8
The work to create a garden emphasises our responsibility as followers of Jesus to do what we can to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.