Horticultural and operations manager Gus Flower said the build began with some serious groundwork.
A slice of the Middle Ages is taking shape in the heart of Waikato, with Hamilton Gardens preparing to unveil its Medieval Garden in summer 2026.
While the garden was still a construction site when the Waikato Herald visited this week, arches and facades had been well established, and various gardeners and tradespeople were hard at work.
Horticultural and operations manager Gus Flower said the build began with some serious groundwork in 2023.
“It starts with those whacking great hunks of concrete going into the ground,” Flower said.
The setting of Hamilton Gardens’ new addition is a monastery and its two most important gardens, a cloister garth garden and an apothecary garden.
The real-life inspiration was the ruins of St John of the Hermits Monastery (San Giovanni degli Eremiti) in Sicily, Italy.
“You ended up with a mixture of this sort of Arabic, Norman Romanesque-type feature. So it’s quite special in that sense,” he said.
Historically, St John of the Hermits Monastery, founded in the year 1132, functioned as an apothecary.
“In some ways, you can almost say it’s the first hospital. That’s what it would have acted as. In many ways, people travelling, passing through would have sought refuge,” Flower said.
The medieval theme was chosen as part of Hamilton Gardens’ plan to create a “living museum” of 30 unique gardens, each representing a different time period stretching from Ancient Egypt to the present, Flower said.
Planning for the Medieval Garden began several years ago, as the team needed time to establish the many herb varieties required.
“We started planting for that probably three, four years ago. We started to plant ... the perimeter planting,” Flower said.
The project has drawn on the expertise of about 30 donors, historians and professionals to ensure the replica is as accurate and authentic as possible.
“It’s a culmination of input from everyone.”
Beyond the apothecary, the garden will also feature a traditional cloister garth: a quiet, enclosed space where monks once paused for rest, reflection and ritual – such as bloodletting.
“This was still a time when they did bloodletting. They would actually cut themselves ... to purify the body for greater wellbeing,” Flower said.
Flower said the team had to avoid planting full-sized apple trees because they would grow too tall and instead opted for a compact variety known as Rocket Scarlet.
The dwarf trees, chosen for their strong blossoms and high-quality small fruit, mimic the traditional focal trees in medieval gardens, he said.
“Historically, you would have found trees like this in the centre of a garden, so it helps create that authentic feel.”
While the garden is being considered for small events, its intimate scale means any functions hosted there would be of limited size, Flower said.
The garden will also feature a bell tower, though no decision has yet been made on whether the bells will be played live or via a recording.
When it opens, the Medieval Garden will offer visitors a rare chance to step back into the Middle Ages.
With 18 gardens already completed and accessible to the public, the Medieval Garden will be the first new addition since 2022, when the Ancient Egyptian Temple Garden opened.
However, the concept of Hamilton Gardens founder Peter Sergel planned for a further 11 themed areas, including a Pasifika Garden and a Baroque Garden.
Hamilton Gardens is a walk-through experience that showcases how different civilisations have influenced the way people cultivate, utilise and interpret plants.
“You can wander around here, jumping timelines from Renaissance Italy, then you’re in Victorian England. Now, medieval Europe,” Flower said.
Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and Sunlive.