BIG NEWS: Gnome Reserve Gnomes Find a New Home at Merry Harriers Garden Centre

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the June 2021 issue of the International Gnome Club Newsletter.

Ann Atkin is our club’s founder and an inspiration to everyone who loves gnomes all around the world. She and her family ran The Gnome Reserve for over 40 years, which is a place that I had the pleasure of visiting during my honeymoon in 2015. Well, the Atkin family has finally decided to “call it a day” in running the Gnome Reserve and recently sold the property as private house. While you can no longer visit the beloved Gnome Reserve in all its glory any longer, the good news is that the gnomes have relocated to the Merry Harriers Garden Centre, which is a family-run business just a few miles away.

Running the Gnome Reserve was so very enjoyable for Ann and her family members, Richard and Margaret, but also a lot of hard work and everyone is getting older – we can all relate to that! To learn more about this big transition, I asked our very own Ann Atkin a few questions about how all of this came to be.

“I had the most wonderful 42 years with The Gnome Reserve, including The Wildflower Garden and making little pottery pixies daily in The Pixie Kiln, which our visitors (adults and children) liked to take home with them as well as prints of my paintings – landscapes inhabited by gnomes, landscapes inhabited by fairies and some with birds,” Ann said.

When I asked Ann about keeping some of the gnomes from her collection for herself, she said that she still has one gnome – a little painted bronze one with an open umbrella, which she is very fond of. However, the bulk of her collection has now made its way to Merry Harriers.

“As I say, they were 42 really happy years…and I miss it all very much especially the visitors,” Ann said. “We used to loan visitors gnome hats so they could forget about any cares of the world, put on their gnome hats and just be at one with the gnomes (and fairies in The Wild Flower Garden) and the trees, the stream running through the woodland, the birds, mosses, flowers, and nature.  Some of the visitors came just once while on holiday, but lots of them came perhaps every year – and that was so very enjoyable.”

Merry Harriers has now welcomed The Gnome Reserve’s 2,000+ residents so you can visit many of them here in the gardens! This local business in the UK sells plants, garden products, furniture, and even has an onsite restaurant. The Merry Harriers staff was unavailable to be interviewed for this article. But I hope to connect with them and feature their business and their new home for the gnomes in a future issue of Gnome News.  

“It is cheering that Merry Harriers is keeping it going… and I think I shall help them there for about 3 days a week!” Ann said.

I think it’s amazing that Ann will be able to stay involved with her gnomes in their new home and that her collection will be largely kept together for many more people to come see and enjoy. Hopefully one day soon, I will get back to the UK and can visit them at Merry Harriers. In the meantime, here are a few of my favorite Gnome Reserve photos to reminisce about old times. I wish Ann, her family, and the Gnome Reserve gnomes all the best in during this transition and their next phase of life!

Gnome Travel in the UK: Fun Guides to Plan Your Trip!

It’s no secret that the UK is THE place to be for all things gnome. Check out a couple blogs from international gnome journalist, Alyssa, to get inspired to a trip across the pond!

My Dream-Come-True Visit to Ann Atkin’s Gnome Reserve

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“Gnome Hunting” with the Boden Gnome Ranger at a Lovely UK Arboretum

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South Korea Gnomes Headed to England for the Summer!

We often hear of gnomes getting up to their usual shenanigans in the UK, Australia, Canada, and the U.S. So when we caught wind of some gnomish activity brewing in South Korean, our pointy ears immediately perked up!

Year-six students at Seoul’s Dulwich College crafted some gnomes as part of an art project and vowed to send them off to England to join their distant cousins at the Gnome Reserve.

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

Photo credit: Paul Kerry/The Korea Herald

You remember the Gnome Reserve, right? It’s that woodland place with thousands of gnomes run by our all-time hero, Ann Atkins! Check out the pic the Gnome Reserve posted of Ann checking in today on the new South Korean arrivals…

annAccording to the Korea Herald, the students explained that they created the gnomes by “pinching out two pots and putting them together to make a hollow body. Then they added the head, beard and the rest before firing their gnomes twice ― but they all agreed that the legs were the hardest part.”

Over time, the South Korean gnomes developed unique personalities – no surprise there. “We are glad that the gnomes have ended their gnomadic existence and that they will have a gnome to go to and not live in gnome-man’s land,” said school headmaster Daryl Orchard, to a mixed response from the students.

Considering that the gnomes will only enjoy a summer vacation in England and return to South Korea in the fall, the students weren’t too sad to see them go. They’re proud of their work – rightfully so – and they want to show it off to the best goshdern gnome museum in the world.

Right on, kiddos!

So what will the 12 brave South Korean gnomes get up to in England? Only time (and perhaps Ann) will tell.

Wishing the lil’ buggas lots of luck and jet lag relief,
ChumbawambaIGetKnockedDown the Gnome