No – I know it’s not Saturday but….I’m going to break my own rules to  invite you to     discover more about  opportunities in Garden History Research at Buckingham University.

Dr Twigs Way who is the programme director for Garden History there has organised a free on-line  “open evening”  on Tuesday, 23rd June  at 6.00 where you can learn more about the only research degree  in the subject in the country.  Book your place via Eventbrite!

If you can’t make that date or time, don’t worry, it’s going to be recorded and will be available [via a link on here] until the course actually starts in October.

There’s also a chance to visit the University’s London base in Gower Street and meet Twigs as part of the University’s Postgraduate Humanities London Open Day on the 25th June 16.00-20.00.  For more information please follow this link.  

Lots of people talk to me about researching Garden History, but many of them think its all about grand gardens owned by  posh people,  or statues, topiary and garden design, or maybe that they need a lot of knowledge about plants or practical horticulture.

It’s not.  You can study garden history like that if you want but you can also investigate it  through philosophy, poetry, economics, cartography, ecology, architecture, garden writing, politics, social history, science, art, archaeology or even pulp fiction -and probably in many other ways too.  In short it’s a really interdisciplinary way of investigating the world of gardens and designed landscapes.

The Gardens Trust is really pleased to be supporting  Buckingham  University’s MA research degree programme and PhD opportunities which has now been running very successfully for three years  from the university’s  central London base in Bloomsbury.

There are students from a wide range of backgrounds, including young professionals as well as those pursuing their interests later in life.  The range of their research subjects is equally wide. From a study of estate lodges to the recreation of an Edwardian Japanese garden; from the history of the National Gardens Scheme to the career and significance of a 17thc Dutch gardener; from gardening  books for children to the history of planting plans.  And obviously much more besides.

Recruitment is now underway  for the coming academic year which starts at the beginning of October.  The  MA  programme runs on Thursday evenings from 5.30 to 7.00 and  is based around a series of seminars run by a mix of leading experts and professionals. These will be backed up by a series of background lectures and visits at weekends  to important sites.  You can find the full programme and more information about both the MA and Ph.D opportunities on the University’s website.

Hope to see you there!