The Garden History Blog

The Italian Garden
http://www.ngs.org.uk

Everyone’s heard of Westonbirt Arboretum, one of the most extensive and beautiful collections of trees in the country. But how about the other gardens at Westonbirt? Perhaps not. Yet like the arboretum they were created by the same visionary, Robert Stayner Holford,  are just across the road and are open to the public, although they now form the grounds of Westonbirt School.

http://www.botanicalgardenphotography.com

I had the chance to see  them when I went down to Gloucestershire for  a day conference – Protecting Historic Parks and Gardens: ‘It’s a Piece of Cake’ – organized by the Historic Landscapes Project which is part of The Gardens Trust. It was held in the school and because the Historic Landscapes Project is such an impressive  resource [despite being run on a shoestring] I’d have signed up for the day even without the cake!

The programme was lively and informative [with the cake an added bonus] and  included a tour of the grounds led by Margie Hoffnung, The Gardens Trust’s Conservation Officer, who had also been the leading volunteer in the gardens at Westonbirt.   What an eye-opener that proved to be. Westonbirt was, and largely still is, a Victorian masterpiece and it’s no wonder that the gardens as well as the house are Grade 1 listed.

David Marsh, Oct 2016

I’m very grateful to Margie for letting me have access to her notes and for checking through the post – any errors are mine and not hers. Continue reading →