Royal Jubilee Hospital Green Space Courtyard Garden

Built in eighteen eighty nine, the Royal Jubilee Hospital has a several terrific places to explore nature and the outdoors. The landscaping of the grounds has created isolated and discrete open spaces that are connect by a maze of paved walkways and sidewalks. As you are likely to get lost exploring the outdoor spaces at the RJH make sure you have time. The campus for RJH is located between the Municipality of Saanich and the City of Victoria and only the green spaces found within Victoria are shared here.

Completely surrounded by the buildings designed for helping people recover their health, the center courtyard garden area at RJH has a tranquil Japanese water feature and a Salish garden blended with the heritage plantings and buildings. Follow the scent of lavender to the Doctor Inazo Nitobe Memorial Japanese Garden which greets visitors when they first stroll into the courtyard garden. There are rock seats and benches next to the flowing creek. Stroll up the brick walkway to the Heritage Garden with lactern stand and arbor which lies between of the brick buildings that form the Pemberton Memorial Chapel and Pemberton Operating Room. The benches around the gardens are used by everyone who is involved with the hospital. Enjoy a comfortable rest on the beige street car bench. It and its shelter were built in nineteen-ten. Set below a dogwood tree and cascading water wall, the pond of the Salish Garden provides a soothing setting to enjoy the outdoors. While most of the pathways around the gardens are wheel chair accessible there are also several sets of stairs. The Victoria Heritage Foundation has an extensive write up on the hospital’s history and the nurses alumni and the Victoria-Morioka Society help with gardening.

Geographic coordinates N48° 26′ 1″ W123° 19′ 41″

Jubilee Hospital Green Space with the garden courtyard can be reached from Blanchard Street. Turn east onto Bay Street and continue past to Richmond Road. There is a large paid parking area across Richmond Road to the left. The access to the courtyard gardens is between the emergency entrance and the main entrance of the hospital. The green spaces for RJH extend south along Richmond Road to Fort Street, which have some roadside parking. Buses travel along Fort Street and Richmond Road and there are bicycle racks, lockers and compounds available.