By Evan Walsh
Contributing Writer
SHREWSBURY – Twenty-three years ago, Shrewsbury’s Garden of Sweet Remembrance was a memory itself. Maybe less than a memory – a wreck. Once part of a sprawling estate, the garden was an afterthought, a remnant from a bygone era.
Wisteria vines made the historic garden impassable.
“This entire area, all of it – it looked as though God had spilled a gigantic bowl of brown spaghetti on it. The trees were draped with vines. It enveloped everything. Trees died. You couldn’t move. It was chaos,” said Christopher Kirk.
But starting in 2003, Kirk and longtime friend Bill Davis began working to turn the piece of forgotten earth into something. After decades of effort from Kirk and Davis, the Garden of Sweet Remembrance has re-emerged from its unsightly past, becoming one of the most beautiful outdoor spots in Shrewsbury.
The history of the garden goes back a century. In 1912, Matthew Whittall purchased over 100 acres of land on Meetinghouse Hill and constructed Juniper Hall, an elaborate mansion. In 1922, vice-president Calvin Coolidge visited the landmark property.
Gardening was one of the Whittall family’s favorite pastimes, and the public was invited to the estate for “Lilac Weekend.” The property’s gardens were elegant, with a reflecting pool and pergola, and a selection of flowers said to be among the best in Worcester County. Upon Whittall’s death in 1922, the area was dedicated as the “The Garden of Sweet Remembrance.”
Over the next 75 years, the property changed hands. In 1927, Juniper Hall was deeded to the Grand Lodge of the Masons of Massachusetts, becoming a retirement home. The town ultimately purchased the property in 1976, and the structure was razed.
Left without maintenance for years, manicured gardens turned into a jungle of weeds. When Kirk and Davis arrived – alongside other members of the Friends of Prospect Park – the unmitigated vegetal growth seemed almost too much to overcome.
Photo/Melanie Petrucci
A botanist was quoted as saying it “was like walking through the bowels of the Titanic.”
“If you’ve ever seen National Geographic’s pictures of the Mayan temple in the Yucatan Peninsula jungle – that’s what it looked like,” said Kirk. “Giant vines all over the place. The reflecting pool was so covered in vines that you could actually walk across it.”
The vines reached up to 5 inches in diameter, said Davis. The patchwork of wisteria grew like spiderwebs – dozens of vines needed to be uprooted before any progress could be made. Weeds sometimes grew 6 feet into the air.
“It was junk. Just junk,” said Davis.
And yet, there seemed to be progress. In the four years following 2004, when the group’s efforts started, Davis and Kirk poured 30 hours per week into rehabilitating the garden. Davis estimates he chopped over 150 cords of wood.
But progress wasn’t linear. In 2008, “everything went south,” said Davis. A blizzard uprooted trees, erasing years of work. Trails that were blazed were lost. The Town Manager at the time said he’d “never seen such destruction in Shrewsbury.”
After yet another setback, Davis and Kirk were the only ones left willing to continue to work on the park. “People became so discouraged. We’d do so much work, and the vandals would tear it up or the town would plow it under. That was sad,” said Davis.
Led by gardener Brenda Goodwill, a renewed effort to restore the park started, bringing over 1,000 fresh plants to the space. This time, the renovations had sticking power, and in 2024, “Art in Prospect Park” marked the first public event held at the reclaimed space.
In 2026, the event is returning for its third year. Thanks to over 20 years of hard work, the space is colorful, lively, and serene – a spot where people actually want to be. And, much to Davis and Kirk’s credit, there are no vines causing a disturbance.
“Gradually, enough people saw this as a beautiful place. It’s a magical place. It’s a serene place. I mean, here we are between I-290 and Route 140, and you can hardly hear a car. You hear the birds and you see all sorts of wildlife,” said Davis.
Added Kirk: “I could see what would happen if we stopped – all the brush would come back, all the weeds would come back. I didn’t know what would happen, but as long as I’m alive – as long as I can do it – I want to keep it open.”
The old remains of the Pergola at Prospect Park in Shrewsbury still stands where gardens once sprawled out before the old Juniper Hall estate in Shrewsbury. New plans to revamp this space for use as a cemetery, look long term, towards a future where these old columns will be even more historic.
Kirk recently made another stop at the Garden of Sweet Remembrance. While there, he noticed a young family with blankets sprawled across the grass. They were having a picnic in the area, commenting on the flowers and wildlife.
“That’s what we’ve been doing it for. It’s finally turning it into what we anticipated,” he said.
Added Davis: “That’s the paycheck we got.”
This year’s Art In Prospect Park will be held in Shrewsbury on September 13 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will feature local art, crafts, young artists, kindness rock painting, and park history. There is plenty of on-site parking.
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