Dragon Garden Dedication and Completion
On Saturday 14th October, Andover Trees United’s new landscaped garden was completed with a special celebration event, including a Druid dedication ceremony, storytelling, and wildflower planting.
The Dragon Garden in Harmony Woods is made of mounds of soil shaped into an abstract representation of a dragon, designed by ATU Trustee and renowned landscape designer Daniel Lobb, in memory of ATU friend and supporter Sandy Burnfield, who died in 2021.
Dr Sandy Burnfield was a highly respected consultant psychiatrist working with young people with mental health issues and their families. He was diagnosed with a form of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in his early twenties and through his writing and his work with the MS Society, at local and international level, he was able to help many people with this condition. Sandy helped to set up both the Andover and Winchester MS Groups. A lover of trees, he became a Druid in the last years of his life. He was also fascinated by stories of dragons from all over the world, including the local tale of the Wherwell Cockatrice.
The Dragon Garden was created by ATU volunteers during July and August. First the area had to be stripped of turf and scraped to gather enough soil to form the mounds; a mini-digger greatly helped alongside the spades and wheelbarrows. Once the initial landscaping was done and the basic shapes of the mounds formed, they were sculpted and smoothed. The weekly Monday workday team maintained the mounds afterwards to keep them in good condition until the celebration and planting event.
On the day around 60 people attended the event, including Sandy’s family and friends, the volunteers who had helped create the garden, the ATU team, and Sandy’s Druid Grove (the term for an organised group of Druids), of which ATU Trustee Dan Lobb is also a member. The morning began at 11am with welcome refreshments in the Hazel Circle, before everyone was led to the Dragon Garden, with instructions to pick up a small piece of stone on the way. The Druids held a special dedication ritual, with attendees stood along the earthen mounds to observe and participate.
Druids can be of any faith or belief system, or none - Pagan, Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, etc. - but what unites them is a deep reverence for the Earth. The Grove included dragon symbolism in their ritual by inviting the elemental dragon guardians of the four directions into the circle, and called for protection and blessings upon the garden, the attendees, and the community. Sandy’s family were invited to spread wildflower seed on the mounds, while the Druids recited a blessing chant of the names of all the flowers included in the seed mix. Attendees were asked to think of a wish for the community, and offer it to the garden in the form of the stone they had collected. Musician Nick Barwick played the saxophone from the top of one of the mounds while participants formed a line to place their stones in a bucket; the stone would later be placed to form the eye of the dragon.
After the ceremony, everyone returned to the Hazel Circle for lunch and storytelling. The story of the Wherwell Cockatrice was performed by Amanda Kane-Smith, author of the book ‘Test Valley Tales’, in which it is included.
The story of the Wherwell Cockatrice: A cockatrice is a creature with the body of a dragon and the head of a rooster. The story is that the cockatrice terrorised the village until it was imprisoned in the cellar below Wherwell Priory. A prize of land was offered to anyone who could kill the creature. None were successful, until a man named Green lowered a mirror into the dungeon. The cockatrice battled against its own reflection until exhausted, at which point Green was able to kill it. Today there is an area of land near Wherwell called Green's Acres. For many years a weather vane in the shape of a cockatrice adorned the church of St. Peter and Holy Cross in Wherwell until it was removed and relocated/donated to Andover Museum.
After lunch, participants returned to the Dragon Garden for the planting aspect of the day. Each year a range of native wildflower species are grown from seed and cared for by ATU volunteers at the Vigo Road Allotment over the spring and summer. Participants of all ages helped to plant hundreds of these plugs, and spread wildflower seeds, on the Dragon Garden mounds to complete the garden creation. Sandy’s family also planted a walnut tree in the garden as another memorial. This formed ATU’s October Community Workday, a family-friendly volunteering opportunity which takes place on the second Saturday of each month.
Andover Trees United would like to thank everyone who played a part in the creation of the Dragon Garden. It could not have been achieved without the hard work of so many volunteers. The dedication ceremony event was a special day, and being able to witness a Druid ritual was a privilege for many. The Dragon Garden will be for the use of ATU volunteers, and able to be hired by private groups and organisations.
