Temple Street Field
The field off Temple Street (formally known as Coopers Field and now Temple Street Community Garden) is part of the 'green heart' of Padfield. Its size and location is reminiscent of a public common and there are members of the village that remember playing in the field as children, decades ago. In 2020 the field was put up for auction. Concerned that the field may be purchased by housing developers, village residents sprang into action.
2020: Taking action
A significant number of village residents quickly pledged donations or loans to raise enough money to purchase the field at auction, which they did in September 2020.
A single entity was required to make the purchase, so POGs (Padfield Open Green Spaces) was born. The group was made up of 3 directors and all shareholders who donated or loaned money for the purchase. As a limited company, it was the quickest kind of organisation to create, but unable to apply for the funding that would be required to transform and manage the field for public use and the benefit of nature, into the future.
The sole aim of POGs became to buy the field and hold onto it until a new local charity could be set up to re-purchase the field on behalf of the village. And that charity is us!
2021: Finding our feet
Padfield Community Spaces was established in 2021 and incorporated in 2022 as a CIO. We quickly formed a voluntary Board of Trustees to help us develop the field for nature and community use, and - most importantly - secure the funding to buy and maintain it.
Throughout 2021, we carried out three rounds of public consultation - by leaflet, on Facebook, and in person - to gather ideas and views from the Padfield community for the field's use and management. We had a broad range of responses, but common themes included prioritising areas for wildlife and allowing for enjoyment of the site, through improved access and provision of seating.
We also worked hard to find grant giving organisations who might be willing to provide the funds needed to purchase the field from POGS so we could make this vision a reality. Finally, in 2024, after some disheartening rejections, we found the Community Ownership Fund (COF), provided by the UK Government.
In December 2024, we received the exciting news that we had been successful in obtaining a £50k grant. It was a fantastic end to the year!
2025: Getting to work
We spent 2025 negotiating the complicated (and at times exhausting!) legal requirements to take ownership of Temple Street Field. This included dealing with property lawyers, purchasing insurance and getting through planning permission to change the field's official use from 'agricultural' to 'community garden'. All these steps needed completing before we could begin any of the work we had promised to deliver in our bid to COF.
The Board worked incredibly hard and by November 2025 PCS became the legal owners of Temple Street Field!
Over the next month we worked even harder to ensure we made the terms of our grant bid. This included:
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hosting a community event to share our updated management plan, in collaboration with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust
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hosting short-notice workdays to clear the field of debris and prepare it for access and works
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removing diseased trees
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re-establishing the field boundary with a new fence
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installing accessible kissing gates, picnic benches and sitting benches on site
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starting a habitat pile for small mammals and invertebrates
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planting spring bulbs to bring the site to life in the new year
We also hosted additional community events, handing out Spring bulbs and celebrating the arrival of Winter with mince pies and festive tunes on the rec adjacent to the Field.
It was with a huge sense of achievement that we ended 2025 with all bid requirements met and Temple Street Field transformed from an empty field into a place in the process of becoming something much more exciting.
2026: Jan - June
In preparation to open the field as a Community Garden, we worked hard during the first half of the year to get it ready for public access. This included starting a seasonal mowing routine, from April through to October, for central areas on the site to allow visitors to walk more easily. We also installed a hazel-hurdle fence to mark off a Wild Area of the site, which will be allowed to stay wild and unmown until August. This allows the plants to conclude their lifecycle and reseed for coming years; improving the biodiversity of the site. The edges of the site were also left wild, along with two 'wild roundabouts' in the middle of the site, to increase our wild footprint.
Plans for a hard path were put on hold due to various elements, to be revisited in a future stage of the site's development. We acknowledge the difficulty this and the current ground around the gates pose for visitors in wheelchairs etc. and we are doing as much as we can to resolve these access needs asap.
2026: Jan - June
The Temple Street Community Garden was officially opened on 14th June 2026 with with a community event including storytelling, a painted stone hunt, and a smoothie bike! We were absolutely thrilled that our amazing community turned out in such great numbers to celebrate this village achievement.
Three very special people 'cut the ribbon' to officially open the site: our amazing Counsellor Ollie Cross, Director of POGS Sue Leeson and PCS Young Volunteer of the Year Arthur Tomlin. We also revealed our new logo, inspired by the winning design from a competition held at our local Primary School. Winner Reuben Baker was there to help us reveal the new design.
From now on, the site will be open full time for access to visitors and PCS will continue to host community workdays and engagement activities to promote enjoyment and use of this beautiful space.
If you have any questions or concerns about access, safety or any other issues regarding Temple Street Field, please contact us as soon as possible via email: hello@padfieldspaces.com. Please note: we are entirely volunteer run so our emails are not checked daily. We will respond to you as soon as possible.