Moving forward to make Davies Orchard even better
Work is underway to improve the Davies Orchard area in a number of ways including upgrades to five historic cottages, orchard plantings and better connecting the area to other parts of Crippen Regional Park, including the Davies Creek area.
Improvements will take place in phases over the next two years.
Phase one
Upgrades to five historic cottages will take place in 2023. The work will also include new electrical and water lines.
Phase one work is being funded in part thanks to a $450,000 grant from the Unique Heritage Stream of the Community Economic Recovery Infrastructure Program. We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development.
Phase two
Site and public space enhancements are planned for phase two, including improvements to parking, circulation and new amenities such as picnic areas and nature discovery areas.
Project site
The Davies Orchard site is located in Crippen Regional Park on Bowen Island. It was planted as an orchard by William Davies in the late 1880s; the fruit was sold to Bowen Island residents -- and shipped to Vancouver. Later, in the early 1900s, Davies rented tents to island visitors. In the 1920s, a number of rental cottages were built.
The current Davies Orchard site measures about 2.3 acres (0.9 ha) and includes open space, road access, pedestrian access, young heritage-variety fruit trees and six cottage buildings, in varying states of repair.