Gardener

The Church of England; Greater London; On-site; GBP 31,000; Full time

Job summary

A historic religious institution is seeking a dedicated Gardener to assist in maintaining the landscaped gardens of Lambeth Palace. You will work as part of a small team, ensuring high-quality care of the grounds. The role involves routine gardening tasks, safe machinery operation, and adherence to health and safety standards. The ideal candidate will have RHS Level 2 or equivalent horticultural experience and a passion for maintaining historic gardens. This is a full-time, on-site position in central London.

Benefits

25 days annual leave

Pension contributions up to 15%

Flexible working arrangements

Access to health cash plan services

Employee Assistance Programme

Civil Service Sports & Social Club membership

Qualifications

• Ability to handle a range of horticultural machinery and powered hand tools.
• Understanding of health and safety legislation.
• Ability to identify and treat horticultural pests and diseases.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Head Gardener in maintaining Lambeth Palace Gardens.
• Conduct routine weeding and mowing.
• Maintain flower, shrub, and rose beds.

Skills

Horticultural machinery handling

In-depth knowledge of plants

Team player

Education

RHS Level 2 or equivalent

Job description

PASSIONATE ABOUT PLANTS, WE ARE HIRING FOR A GARDENER!

About the Department / Role

Lambeth Palace is a unique Grade I listed building of significant and global provenance. It is, first and foremost, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury and their family, as well as home to a wider, diverse and thriving residential community. It is also an office and the epicentre of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s ministry to the Church of England and the global Anglican Communion. It is set within 10 acres of beautiful, landscaped gardens, with wilder areas. These heritage gardens are Grade 2 listed.

What you'll be doing

The purpose of this role is to proactively assist the Head Gardener in the overall presentation of Lambeth Palace Gardens and provide high-quality hands‑on support to ensure that detailed schedules of gardening work can be effectively delivered. This includes organically maintaining and caring for the planting, meadows, and lawns and helping to create an environment where plants, wildlife, and people flourish.

The postholder will be working within a small team of 3 gardeners. As a team, you are expected to ensure the gardens are kept to an exceptional standard while extending a warm and inclusive approach to all other staff and garden visitors.

Summary of main responsibilities

• Routine weeding and mowing to keep lawn areas in top condition. Other lawn tasks include edging and re‑seeding.
• Safe usage of using machinery, leaf blower, hedge trimmer, mowers (ride‑on and pedestrian), strimmer and chipper.
• Maintenance of flower, shrub and rose beds and edging of grass. Pruning of shrubs.
• Complying with Health and Safety Policy as indicated and playing a part in ensuring that the workplace is kept safe. Flagging any concerns with the Line Manager. This role involves manual handling, working at height and driving a ride‑on mower.

Key role requirements

• A basic DBS check will be required as part of our pre‑employment checks.
• The position is based in London, requiring the individual to work at Lambeth Palace from 8 am to 4 pm, Monday through Friday, with some occasional weekend / evening work.

You will need to be / have :

• RHS Level 2 (or similar) or equivalent practical experience.
• The ability to handle a range of horticultural machinery and powered hand tools.
• An in‑depth knowledge of plants and gardening techniques.
• An understanding of all current health and safety legislation.
• The ability to identify and treat appropriately the full range of horticultural pests and diseases.
• Team player.

About You

The Church of England is for everyone and we want to reflect the diversity of the community the Church serves across the whole country. Therefore, while of course, we welcome all applications from interested and suitably experienced people, we would particularly welcome applicants from UK Minoritised Ethnicities (UKME) / Global Majority Heritage (GMH) and other under‑represented groups. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to recruiting disabled people. We offer interviews to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the role.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information about the role and person specification.

What we offer

Your Salary

• A salary of £30,430 per annum, plus age‑related pension contributions between 8‑15% of salary. We will also match any pension contributions you make up to an additional 3% of your salary.

Your Benefits

• 25 days annual leave (increasing to 30 days within 5 years) plus eight bank holidays and three additional days (pro‑rated if working part‑time).
• We welcome all flexible working arrangement requests. This is looked at in a case‑by‑case scenario and if this fits within the department’s needs. We try to be as flexible as we can in your work pattern to support you with other commitments, and to give a good work‑life balance.
• We offer many services and initiatives under our Family Friendly Programme, some of these include enhanced Maternity Leave initiative, Adoption Leave, Paternity Leave, & Shared Parental Leave. Structured induction programme and access to a range of development opportunities including apprenticeships.
• Automatic enrolment and access to Medicash (one of the UK’s leading health cash plan providers), providing you with many services including reimbursements for routine dental treatment, optical, specialist consultations, and therapy treatments. Unlimited access to virtual GP & Private prescription service and health & Stress related helplines.
• Access to Occupational Health, and an Employee Assistance Programme
• Access to the Department of Education Restaurant and Westminster Abbey with a plus‑one guest.
• Opportunity to join the Civil Service Sports & Social Club, and get involved in a range of staff networks, groups and societies.

ABOUT NATIONAL CHURCH INSTITUTIONS

The National Church Institutions comprises a wide variety of teams, professions and functions that support the mission and ministries of the Church of England in its vision to be a church, centred on Jesus Christ, for the whole nation - a church that is simpler, humbler, bolder.

We Include. You Belong.

Our Belonging and Inclusion Strategy aims for everyone in the National Church Institutions (NCIs) to feel that they belong, and are valued for who they are and what they contribute. Together, our people contribute in different ways towards our common purpose, whichever NCI they work in and whatever their background.

Living out our values in all that we do, we :

• Strive for Excellence
• Show Compassion
• Respect others
• Collaborate
• Act with Integrity

We believe our commitment to belonging and inclusion fuels our progress and drives us forward. The NCIs are a safe, inclusive workplace for people of all backgrounds and walks of life. We welcome applications from people of all faiths and of no faith. We want to encourage applications from a diverse group of people who share our values. Even if you have never thought about working for us before, if you have the skills and experience we’re looking for then we would like to hear from you.

You must have the right to work in the UK to be considered for the role.