The chines and the gardens

About The chines and the gardens

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Bournemouth is a garden town. Its Grade II listed Lower Gardens run down to the pier, the Upper Gardens began as a private Victorian garden, and the chines, steep valleys cut through the cliffs, hold tropical planting and Victorian gardens.

Follow the little river Bourne from the town centre to the sea and you never leave a garden. The resort was built around its valley, and the chines that cut down to the beach east and west of it are green, sheltered and surprising.

Along the Bourne

The Lower Gardens are Grade II listed and only five minutes’ walk from the shops, the beach and the pier, with floral displays, an aviary and seasonal art. The Upper Gardens were laid out in the 1860s as a private garden for the Durrant family and passed to the council shortly before the Lower Gardens were made; today they follow a “three continents” theme.

Check opening times and trains on the official sites before you travel.

Alum Chine

A chine is a steep, dry river valley, and Alum Chine is the largest of four in Bournemouth. It has shaded paths down to the beach, a tropical garden on the cliff face, and a Treasure Island-themed play area: Robert Louis Stevenson lived close by.

Boscombe Chine

Boscombe Chine Gardens were made from a chine of heath and mire into a Victorian garden at the heart of the old Boscombe resort, with formal flower beds, lawns and mini golf running down to the beach and Boscombe Pier.

Art under the road

In the Upper and Middle Gardens, the Upside Gallery has turned the grey concrete pillars under the Wessex Way into an outdoor gallery of murals by eleven of the UK’s finest mural artists.

Our advice: walk the gardens from the Upper Gardens down to the pier in the morning, and save Alum Chine for a late-afternoon walk to the beach.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with The chines and the gardens before you go.