Glasshouses of the Victorian Walled Kitchen Garden, Saumarez Park (Lemon House, Orchard House, Vine House)

The walled kitchen garden at Saumarez Park belongs to the old Fief Sausmarez, recorded since the seventeenth century. According to the Guernsey Press, the Le Marchants built a house on the site in 1721-22, which a small walled kitchen garden is said to have served; the large kitchen garden would have become necessary around the 1830s to feed a bigger household. The BBC says only that it was made in the nineteenth century to supply the manor. The estate passed to the de Saumarez family through James de Saumarez's marriage to Martha Le Marchant in 1788. The States of Guernsey acquired it after the fourth baron's death, in 1937 according to the Trust, whereas the Guernsey Press describes a sale in 1938 for some £17,000.

The walled gardens then served as the parks service's propagation centre. When that moved to Burnt Lane in 2000, the large greenhouse housing it was removed, foundations left in place, and the site fell into neglect. The Guernsey Botanical Trust was formed in 2006 to restore it, chaired by Raymond Evison: the States set aside £100,000, on condition that the charity raise the same amount. Clearance began in 2007 with about sixty volunteers (the BBC dates the start of work to 2005).

The glasshouses came afterwards. The Lemon House was opened in 2010 by Sir Fabian Malbon, the Orchard House in 2012 by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and the Vine House was built in 2014. The Trust describes the first as a replica of the original greenhouse and the last as a reproduction of the remaining original greenhouse.

The three glasshouses form a single run of about 170 ft (nearly 52 m), set against the garden's north wall and facing south, according to the Trust. The Lemon House, Orchard House and Vine House are all reconstructions dating from 2010 to 2014. OpenStreetMap maps the whole row as one building named Orchard House, about fifty metres long, which matches the 170 ft.

A visitor describing the place in 2016 notes working details: ventilation shutters passing through the wall, winched open in hot weather, and a ladder hung from runners beneath the glass, on which a gardener lies to prune the vines from below. She also reports an underground boiler uncovered in the wall, which appears never to have been used. In her account, the tall brick walls of the enclosure act as heat stores for the trained fruit. Around the row, the head gardener's office was rebuilt in 2009 and a visitor building, the Gatehouse, opened on 3 May 2025.

The garden grows over 300 varieties of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers available during Victoria's reign (1837-1901); in 2010 the BBC aimed more precisely at crops of 1875 to 1900 or local produce of the early 1900s, traced partly through the results of the horticultural shows of the day. Cultivation is arranged in rotating plots, with a soft-fruit bed, an herb bed, a cutting-flower bed and an oriental vegetable plot, a legacy of the fourth baron's time in Japan. Espalier apples and pears line the central path. The Trust cites Aquadulce broad beans, Brandywine tomatoes, Royal Sovereign strawberries, Guernsey chives and Lisbonnais parsnips; the Nisbett's Victoria tomato recalls the island's tomato industry.

As for the glasshouses, the BBC announced in 2010 houses meant for lemons, peaches and vines. The 2016 visitor saw seedlings there, reports that the muscat grape 'Cannon Hall' was once grown in them and that the volunteers planned to replant six vines.

The kitchen garden occupies a corner of Saumarez Park in Castel, about 4 km from St Peter Port, with several bus routes serving the park. Around it are a pond with a Japanese-style pavilion, a playground, the park's tea rooms and the National Trust of Guernsey's folk museum, plus a nature trail that, according to the Trust, holds the finest single collection of trees on the island. The shop, La Choppe, sells the garden's produce. Groups can book a guided visit of 30 to 90 minutes. The garden opens from late March to late October; the autumn event, Souper Spooky Saturday, serves soups and cakes. It pairs with the glasshouses of Candie Gardens in St Peter Port, also in the catalogue.