Greenhill Gardens is more than a beautiful new community space – it’s a story of vision, resilience, and partnership. What began as a dream over eight years ago has become a gift for Swansea, made possible by an incredible network of funders, friends, and volunteers who believed in the vision and worked tirelessly to make it real.
Funding & Friendships
Our Funders – The Foundation of Greenhill Gardens
This transformation could not have happened without the generosity and belief of those who invested in its future. Together, they’ve turned an overgrown, inaccessible graveyard into a heritage greenspace full of remembrance, community, and hope.
National Lottery Heritage Fund – Our lead funder, whose major grant and later top-up investment gave us the stability and confidence to deliver this project in full.
Girls’ Guild and Hostel – A historic and heartfelt gift that gave this project the push to begin at the very beginning and supported the creation of the heritage trail.
Moondance Foundation – For generosity in helping us dream bigger.
Postcode Lottery – For support in sharing Swansea’s story.
Nationwide Building Society – Continuous support and helping us create a space to strengthen community.
WCVA Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme – Supporting environmental and green infrastructure development.
Swansea Council – For ongoing grant support and partnership.
Church in Wales – For guidance, permissions, and care for this ground.
Our Friends – The Hands, Hearts and Expertise Behind the Vision
This project was not only funded but also built by friendship, expertise, and dedication. A huge thank you to those who poured their time, skills, and heart into Greenhill Gardens:
Victoria Wade Landscapes (Joe and Victoria Wade) – For visionary design work that balanced heritage, beauty, and community needs.
NP Landscaping (Nick Palmer and Team) – For patient, meticulous landscaping work and going above and beyond at every stage.
County Power (Dan and Team) – For expert electrical solutions, generous time, and support throughout.
Steve Knapton – For outstanding project management, drive, and guidance to help steer this complex vision to completion.
PES Security – For ensuring our site is safe and secure.
Carl Morgan Architects – For detailed architectural support, database setup and delivering and lead in heritage.
Green Hat Consulting – For expert health and safety oversight, keeping the project compliant and safe.
Lovely Stuff Studios (Rich) – For design, creativity, brand and online spaces that bring the gardens to life!
Barry & Jo “BVL” – For generosity and support setting up our catering area.
Cadw – For expert advice on working sensitively within a listed and historic site.
Swansea Council – For ongoing support and permissions that helped make this project possible.
Church in Wales – For guidance, heritage care, and support throughout the process.
Andrew Dulley – Swansea’s Head Archivist, whose expertise was invaluable in piecing together the burial records and site history.
Gerald Gabb – Leading historian whose lifelong work on Swansea’s story deeply informed this project.
Rob Sheffield – Author and historian, whose research and guidance helped bring the heritage trails to life.
Voices of the Trail
A special thank you to Jamie for his voiceover of the main heritage trail and to Dylan (aged 10) and his family for bringing Tarran the Time Traveller to life. Your voices have made history come alive for every visitor.
The Matthew’s House Team
We are grateful to the staff team whose hard work turned vision into action:
Ellie – Key to securing funding and shaping the project’s early plans.
Adam – For dedication and effort to get this ambitious project off the ground.
Thom Lynch – Project Leader who dreamt the dream, drove the vision, and guided Matthew’s House and its community to deliver Greenhill Gardens as a gift for the city and beyond.
How We Remember
We have engraved over 4,000 names of those buried here on the steel panels around the habitat walls, carefully collected through years of research and restoration. Many were never marked with headstones, and others were lost to time, but here their names live on.
To read them:
Start at the far-left habitat wall as you enter the gardens.
Follow the panels clockwise to see every name engraved in alphabetical order.
Each wall stands as a memorial and a place to pause, reflect, and remember.
This is your space as much as ours. If you hold family stories or records, we invite you to share them so we can preserve this legacy for generations to come.
More details on this can be found on our “Remembering Every Name” page! Click here.
A Gift to Swansea
Greenhill Gardens is more than a project; it is a legacy. A place of remembrance. A sanctuary in the heart of the city. And a celebration of what is possible when a community comes together.
To every funder, tradesperson, volunteer, and supporter:
Thank you. You have built something beautiful – a sacred space of memory, history, and hope.
