The Garden History Blog

Garden Menageries… 1: Coombe Abbey

Posted on 25/07/2014 by The Garden History Blog

The Feather‘d Fair in a Fright Hand-coloured mezzotint, 1777 Carrington Bowles after John Collet (publisher) British Museum from http://christopherplumb.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/plumbthesis2010.pdf

As gardeners and garden historians we are used to hearing about the discovery, trade and cultivation of non-native plants. We know that as western Europeans discovered, then traded with and finally conquered much of the rest of the world plant hunters were not far behind the explorers, the merchants, the generals and admirals. Indeed sometimes they were the same people. What we probably do not think about quite as often is the way that the animal and bird kingdoms were plundered as much as the plant world, with exotic specimens transported round the world for the pleasure, curiosity and potential economic benefit they could bring to their new homes and owners.

The reconstrcution of Robert Dudley’s garden at Kenilworth, with the aviary on the left.
from http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications/elizabethan-garden-kenilworth-castle/

With the ‘discovery’ of the Americas and the opening up of trade routes to Asia via the Cape this passion for collecting the new, the unusual and the exotic developed rapidly. Even England, a late starter in the whole business, was affected. In 1575 Robert Langham wrote a detailed description of Robert Dudley’s garden at Kenilworth including the massive Italianate aviary. This was used as part of the evidence for the recent recreation by English Heritage. Langham admired the top cornice painted and gilded to look as though it had been ‘beautified with great diamonds, emeralds, rubies and sapphires’ as well as the varied songs and colours of the ‘lively birds, English, French, Spanish, Canarian, and I am deceived if I saw not some African’. These were likely to have been the canary and other new introductions such as guinea fowl.

Much of Langham’s lengthy description can be found at:

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/kenilworth-castle/elizabethan-garden/langham-extracts/

William Brooke, 10th Lord of Cobham and his Family
by an artist of the British School, 1567
(Longleat House collection)

There are also several Elizabethan portraits which include rare birds such as parrots as signs of the owner’s wealth, although I cannot think of any which show unusual animals in the same way. Please let me know if you do, but I think there is a good reason for this discrepancy which I’ll come onto towards the end of this post.

By the 17th century Louis XIV wanting, as always, to outdo the rest of Europe built an extraordinarily large and elaborate menagerie in the park at Versailles to contain his growing collection of unusual creatures. And of course where Louis led other monarchs followed…and where monarchs went their aristocratic elites followed too.

England was no exception. Although Charles II was stony broke in comparison with his French cousin, he still managed to create an aviary and small menagerie in his revamped St James Park. Such creatures were written about, painted and then made more popular as the subject of prints. They were even used for models for drawing lessons!

Exotic Birds
by Robert Robinson, published by John Smith, mezzotint, circa 1683-1695
National Portrait Gallery

A dromedary camel above, and a lion below; plate 5 from A Booke Containing such Beasts… most Usefull for… Drawing, Graveing, Armes Painting, Chaseing, and for severall other occasions. After Francis Barlow. 1664
© Copyright The Trustees of The British Museum

As more of the world was explored so more animals and birds were brought back to western europe and to new homes in menageries and collections, and since western empires expanded much more rapidly from the mid-18thc onwards it is from the mid-18thc that we see the appearance of a large number of private menageries.

Buy a fine singing Bird from The Cryes of the City of London Drawne after the Life, by Marcellus Laroon, 1688. British Museum

It’s important to point out that these creatures were not ‘pets’ – a term that according to the Oxford Dictionary doesn’t even appear in English until 1710 – but luxury commodities which could be bought, sold, exchanged, displayed and exploited.

Many Georgian aristocrats constructed special buildings in their parks and gardens to house newly imported creatures, observe them, breed them and display them to their friends. “Exotic animals were … present in the residences of the aristocracy and gentry in meaningful numbers [but] despite substantial scholarship on the Georgian home, there is a conspicuous absence” of research about them. [See Christopher Plumb’s Ph.D thesis, p.20 http://christopherplumb.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/plumbthesis2010.pdf p.20%5D x

Coombe Abbey and its parkland from Google Maps

Coombe Abbey, 1909
Country Life Imageshttp://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/Image.aspx?id=4be86a2d-6fc9-404b-97df-811e52eb088c&rd=2|coombe%20abbey||1|20|10|150

Amongst those listed on our database is the menagerie at Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire. The park was laid out by by Capability Brown for the Earl of Craven in 1770. Brown was given a pretty free hand as a letter from the earl shows: “I desire you to exert your utmost abilities to improve the place and shall leave everything else to you.” The menagerie is tucked away in woodland at the extreme eastern end of the parkland, [to the left on the image] and close to the lake. The various new outbuildings around the estate were designed either by Brown himself or more probably his son-in-law Henry Holland. It is likely that the inspiration for the design came from Versailles which Holland had almost certainly visited.

The Menagerie pavilion, with the associated buildings to the north from Google maps

The Menagerie, 2009 after major restoration
http://www.coventry-walks.org.uk/coombe/ca-news-menagerie-1.htm

The central building was not for the animals themselves but designed for the owner and his guests to view them from in comfort. Close by were the keeper’s house and other associated buildings for storage and shelter for the animals.

The estate was sold in 1923 and large parts of the mansion demolished and the rest stripped for saleable items. It was bought in 1964 by Coventry City Council and is now a hotel and country park. After suffering decades of vandalism and neglect the menagerie pavilion was eventually sold off as a wreck but has been rescued and converted into a 5 bedroomed house. The restoration project featured in a Channel Five television programme “Build a new life in the country”.

And if you want to know what it’s like inside now then take a look at: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-27978930.htmlas

as it was available to rent earlier this year for just over £800 a week. The owners say they have seen no sign of its previous animal occupants but it is still surrounded by a very high brick wall that encloses the garden right down to the edge of Brown’s lake.

Apart from the entry on our database:

http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/894/summary

there are two very readable and thorough reports about the whole estate. Coventry City Council who own the Country Park have a detailed management plan, including a full history of the site, which is downloadable at: http://www.coventry.gov.uk/site/scripts/google_results.php?q=coombe+abbey+management+plan

There is also a Conservation Area Appraisal on the estate prepared by Rugby Borough Council in whose boundaries the estate actually lies. This can be found at: Download Now – Rugby Borough Council

It was through reading these that I discovered that Lord Craven’s menagerie was not the first on the site…and indeed was probably not as grand or unusual as the earlier one.

John Harrington’s memorial in Exton church, Rutland
© Copyright J.Hannan-Briggs and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

A previous owner, Sir John, later Lord, Harrington of Exton was a courtier who was entrusted with the education of James I’s daughter, Princess Elisabeth – later famous as Elizabeth of Bohemia or the Winter Queen – shortly after the king came to the throne in 1603. She came to live at Coombe Abbey with an entire court in miniature.

Princess Elizabeth
by Robert Peake, 1603
National Maritime Museum. The picture was probably commissioned by Harrington and may well show the gardens at Coombe

Harrington had clearly created a wonderful garden at Coombe and it, and the princess’s stay, are described in a book by one of her ladies in waiting, Lady Frances Erskine, which were published in 1770 as Memoirs relating to the Queen of Bohemia. It is available as a free download at:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=5DRcAAAAcAAJ&pg

Flora: flowers fruicts beastes birds and flies exactly drawne, With their true colours lively described, by John Payne, 1620 but compiled from earlier continental printed sources.
© Copyright The Trustees of The British Museum

Marcus Geheeraerts the elder, Avium Vivae Icones, published in Antwerp before 1590 http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/gheeraerts-marcus-le-vieux-avium-vivae-5731159-details.aspx.

Elizabeth was apparently “extremely fond of all the feathered Tribe, and never read or heard of any beautiful or uncommon Bird, or Fowl, but she wanted to see it; and she now formed the Design of collecting, in this, little Paradise, all the different Kinds that are in Nature; which, though she could not accomplish, yet she soon had a greater Variety than I ever saw” [p.113] She managed this by asking everyone she knew “who ever had any Thing curious, or could procure it from any of their Acquaintances, in other Parts of the World” and “they hastened to present it to the little Princess.” [p.114]. As a result “her Garden and Green house, were as well stored with Curiosities, and exotic Plants, as her Minagerie, with Creatures.” [p.114].

Harrington was clearly a highly educated and inquisitive man who was at the cutting edge of advances in science and technology. He and the princess used his microscope “which had been very lately discovered by Dribill, a Dutchman”, for studying insects, and this became “a frequent and favourite Entertainment”. [p.117-8] Lady Frances also reports that “There was one of the best Telescopes at Lord Harrington’s, that had yet been made, (it was not above fifty-two Years that they had been ﬁrst invented) and the looking through it at the moon and other Planets was always an Entertainment to us.” [p.109]

Exotic Birds by Adriaen Collaert [d.1618] published in Amsterdam, c. 1640 http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/collaert-adriaen-avium-vivae-icones-amsterdam-5731158-details.aspx

Exotic Birds by Adriaen Collaert [d.1618] from Avium Vivium Icones, published in Amsterdam, c. 1640
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/books-manuscripts/collaert-adriaen-avium-vivae-icones-amsterdam-5731158-details.aspx

Elizabeth was given “an island” on the estate, and there she ordered “a little thatched cottage” to be built for “a poor widow and her children” to live in, “take care of the different sort of Fowls that were-to be kept there; the out-side of this House was to have some Alteration made in it, to give it the Appearance of an Hermitage, and near it a Grotto, the Adorning of which with Shells and Moss, was the Amusement of many of her leisure Hours” [p.111]

She also ordered an aviary “like that she had heard Queen Elizabeth had admired so much, at the late Earl Of Leicester’s in Imitation of which, the Top of this was round, with coloured Glais, that looked, at a little Distance, like rough Emeralds and Rubies, seemingly the Produce of a Rock, overgrown with Moss, which formed the Back and Roof of the Aviary ; the rest was inclosed with a Net of gilt Wire: Within were many Bushes, for the Birds to perch upon, and Water falling continually from the artiﬁcial Rock, into a shallow Marble Bason, in which the pretty little feathered Inhabitants drank and bathed at Pleasure, and Recesses were made in the Rock for them to build their Nests in.” [p.112]

Parrots by Adriaen Collaert [d.1618] c.1617 from Avium Vivae Icones
http://www.annexgalleries.com/

“NEAR this, a Cottage was repaired for an old Man, who had the care of the Birds; and as there are many beautiful ones in other Countries, which cannot live in this, such as the Bird of Paradise, and humming Birds, their Feathers and Skins were stuﬀed, and hung about the Aviary. Representations of several other Creatures were placed in different Parts of the Wood, and the Pictures of such, whose Skins could not easily be had, adorned the little wooden Buildings.” [p.113]

Animalum quadrapedum omnis generis verae et artificiosissimae, by Adriaen Collaert, [d.1618]

from Animalum quadrapedum , by Adriaen Collaert, [d.1618]

What I’m sure you noticed is that most of the exotic ceatures Elizabeth was collecting were birds. Presumably this is because their diet, living space, and even simple size made it much easier to transport birds around the world than any animal, but particularly large ones. Nor are exotic fish of any sort ever mentioned. Transporting them would have been even harder, as the need for fresh water, correct temperature and oxygen would have been almost impossible. The easy display of fish would also have posed problems before the invention of plate glass enabled aquaria to be made, and only goldfish from China seem to have survived the perils of long sea journeys to become the exotic element in garden pools. Coombe’s two remarkable menageries are just the tip of the iceberg, and I’m planning on returning to the subject in the future. Check out our database, the Bartlett Society, Sally Festing’s article or Christopher Plumb’s thesis [and forthcoming book] for more information:

A camel, giraffe, chameleon in a tree, flying dragon, ichneumon, spider, and various insects and flowers, 1663, from Animalium, ferarum et bestiarum issued by Hollar and Stent

A camel, giraffe, chameleon in a tree, flying dragon, ichneumon, spider, and various insects and flowers, from Animalium, ferarum et bestiary , engraved by Hollar and published by Stent, 1663

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aviary, Bartlett, Capability Brown, Christopher Plumb, elizabeth of bohemia, grotto, henry holland, Kenilworth Castle, menagerie, plant hunters, sally festing, winter queen | Leave a comment

Elephants and the royal menagerie…

Posted on 17/07/2014 by The Garden History Blog

Henry I
from British Library, Royal Ms 20 A. ii, f. 6v., c.1300

After a look at mechanical elephants in our parks and gardens I thought perhaps I should look at the place of the real thing there as well. Garden menageries have a long history: the earliest recorded in Britain from the early 12th century in the grounds of what is now Blenheim Palace. The chronicler, William of Malmesbury, writing around 1130, noted that Henry I “was extremely fond of the wonders of distant countries, begging with great delight, as I have observed, from foreign kings, lions, leopards, lynxes or camels – animals which England does not produce. He had a park called Woodstock in which he used to place the favourites of this kind.”

Porcupine, from Historia Animalium by Conrad Gesner, 1551

Sadly no elephants but instead in 1110 Henry walled in part of the grounds to contain his collection and “he had placed there also a creature called the porcupine, sent to him by William of Montpellier… covered with bristly hairs which it naturally darts against the dogs when pursuing it; moreover these are, as I have seen, more than a span long, sharp at each extremity, like the quills of a goose where the feather ceases, but rather thicker and speckled, as it were with back and white.”

The Old Palace of Woodstock from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Vol. VII. 1826.

Unfortunately there is no trace of Henry’s private zoo since the decaying mediaeval palace was pulled down and all its the gardens obliterated when Blenheim was built for the Duke of Marlborough in the early 18thc.

Henry I’s royal menagerie was later moved to the Tower of London, and it was there in 1255 that Matthew Paris, a monk from St Albans Abbey, was able to draw from life a “beast about ten years old, possessing a rough hide rather than fur”. The creature had “small eyes at the top of its head, and eats and drinks with a trunk.”

Henry III's elephant from Matthew Paris, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, Parker Ms 16.

Henry III’s elephant from Matthew Paris, Chronica maiora, Parker Ms 16., Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

A gift to Henry III from the king of France, and probably captured during his time on crusade, it was “a beast most strange and woonderfull to the English people, sith most seldome or neuer any of that kind had béene séene in England before that time.” (Raphael Holinshed Chronicles, vol. 3, 1586] It was housed a specially built wooden house, some 20 ft by 40ft, at a cost of £22. Its spacious surroundings were no guarantee of longevity though and the poor animal died within a couple of years. Its skeleton was later disinterred although no-one knows quite why. It may have been put on display as the bones of a biblical giant like Goliath or more probably used to make fake saints relics and ivory reliquaries to house them!

Elephant from Matthew Paris, Chronica maiora, Part II, Parker Library, MS 16, fol. 151v

Elephant from Matthew Paris, Chronica maiora, Parker MS 16, Corpus Christi College Cambridge

You can discover more about Matthew Paris and his elephant drawings and descriptions at the blog page of the Parker Library in Cambridge:

Matthew Paris and the Elephant at the Tower

The silver yale of the Beauforts in the reconstructed Tudor garden at Hampton Court
http://patrickbaty.co.uk/2009/09/03/a-tudor-garden/

Even as late as the Tudor period, the elephant must have seemed as mysterious and strange as many of the mythical creatures in mediaeval bestiaries – dragons, cyclops, mermaids and, of course, unicorns. But strangely, unlike many other exotic or legendary animals it was never adopted as an heraldic symbol by the crown or any other leading families in England. These heraldic beasts were an important element of elite Tudor gardens and I’m going to return to them at some point in the future.

Commentators still depended mainly on classical or scriptural sources for their knowledge. The very word elephant must have formed a vivid mental image even though they had hardly ever been seen in this country.

Miniature of an elephant and castle; from a bestiary, England, mid 13th century, Harley MS 4751

Miniature of an elephant and castle; from a mid-13thc English bestiary, British Library, Harley MS 4751

As a result the animal is often portrayed as a military weapon which it had been in the west since the time of Alexander the Great : “the stronge & mighty elephaunte With a castell on his backe” [William Nevill, The Castell of Pleasure, 1530], or associated with the biblical Behemoth: “the greatest beast on earth” [John Meerbecke, A booke of notes and common places, 1581].

Perhaps because of these associations elephants were clearly popular royal gifts.

Henry VIII was given an elephant together with its keepers, although we don’t know who gave it to him. It might have been one of the few living things to disobey his royal wishes: “There is an elephant given to the king, but none can guide him but they that came with the present.” [Thomas Horton, Vulgaria, 1519, f.192v].

one of the Oxburgh Hangings, made by Bess of Hardwick and Mary Queen of Scots and their circle, c.1

Elizabeth I received her elephant from France. It had been sent to Henri IV by sea from India but apparently when the king discovered the cost of feeding it he had it forwarded to “madame ma bonne suer” over the channel. What happened to it I have been unable to find out, so if you have any information do let me know.

James I also received a pachydermous gift, along with 5 camels, this time from the King of Spain in 1623. However it didn’t last long since its keepers were told to give it nothing but wine to drink to help ward off the cold!

silk and silver thread embroidery panel of a camel, c.1600-1625
V&A

silk and silver thread embroidery panel of an elephant, c.1600-1625
V&A

All in all, I suspect that Wilfrid Blunt was right when he remarked: “Interfauna is always a less satisfactory service than Interflora.” [Blunt, The Ark in the Park, 1976, p.161]

The Tower of London, 1597 by Haiward and gascoyne from http://www.royalarmouries.org

The Tower of London, 1597 by Haiward and gascoyne The Lion Tower is the isolated projection into the moat, reached by its own bridge, on the bottom left hand side of the plan.
from http://www.royalarmouries.org

Despite forcing his elephant to become a dipsomaniac, James rated his collection of animals very highly and had the Lion Tower extended to provide a large viewing platform for guests. This was, however, was not so that the animals could be better observed out of scientific interest, but in order to allow viewers to watch them being baited by dogs in the pit below. Exotic beasts might have been extremely rare and expensive but they were still disposable toys. James not only maintained the menagerie in the Tower of London but set up a second one in St James’ Park, which contained many varieties of exotic birds, particularly from North America, as well a beaver and, believe it or not, an American Indian.

―The Great White Elephant‖ (Printed between 1702 and 1714) Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

The Great White Elephant‖ (Between 1702 and 1714) Bodleian Library, http://christopherplumb.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/plumbthesis2010.pdf, p.243

By the mid 18thc and the establishment of British rule in India elephants had become a slightly more common sight in Britain, as had many other exotic animals. A menagerie became a ‘must-have’ feature on many landed estates the length and breadth of the country, although I have only found evidence of an elephant being kept in one of them.

A quick look at our database suggests that at least 21 sites had menageries associated with them, while Sally Festing’s research, (“Menageries and the landscape garden“, Journal of Garden History 1988, 8:4, p104-117) names 43, with a strong suspicion that many more examples have been lost without record. More about some of them in my next post.

John Clarke,Keeper of the menagerie at Windsor, by John Lewis, 1828 Royal Collection

John Clarke,Keeper of the menagerie at Windsor, by John Lawrence, 1828
Royal Collection

The royal menagerie in the Tower was open to the public, with an admission fee of threepence at the beginning of the 18thc rising to a shilling by the end. There was, however,an alternative way of paying: with a dog or a cat which could be fed to the lions!

By the time George IV came to the throne the collection had dwindled down to almost nothing: a grizzly bear, assorted birds and surprisingly an elephant. George rebuilt the collection and opened another private menagerie in the Great Park at Windsor Castle which was soon full of exotic animals from the ever-growing empire, including a giraffe, wapiti, zebus, gnus, quaggas, llamas, emus, ostriches and parrots

However, his brother and successor, William IV, was not interested in the collections and both the Windsor and Tower menageries were quickly closed down after he came to throne. In 1831 the surviving 150 animals, including kangaroos, camels, bears, and llamas, but by now no elephant, were transferred to the care of the newly formed Zoological Society in Regents Park.

THE MIRROR OF LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION, Vol. 12. No. 330.]SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1828 https://archive.org/download/themirrorofliter11389gut/11389-h/11389-h.htm

The new zoological gardens in Regent’s Park, from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction, Vol. 12. No. 330, 6 September, 1828
https://archive.org/download/themirrorofliter11389gut/11389-h/11389-h.htm

As The Mirror of Literature said: “The gardens, independent of their zoological attractions, are a delightful promenade, being laid out with great taste, and the parterres boasting a beautiful display of flowers. The animals, too, are seen to much greater advantage than when shut up in a menagerie, and have the luxury of fresh air, instead of unwholesome respiration in a room or caravan.”

The elephant in his bath at Regent’s Park, from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction, Vol.20, No. 530 4 August 1832 http://www.gutenberg.org/files/11705/11705-h/11705-h.htm

Elephants were clearly seen as a desirable and necessary requirement for a menagerie and two were quickly acquired by the Zoological Society for Regent’s Park. They lived in what was claimed to be “luxurious accommodation” of “capacious dimensions”, but “built in a style of inappropriate rusticity”. They also had “a little park or paddock. The fence is of iron, and light but substantial. Within the area are a few lime-trees, the lower branches of which are thinned by the Elephant repeatedly twisting off their foliage with his trunk, as adroitly as a gardener would gather fruit.” But it was a large pool where “In hot weather he enjoys his ablutions …with great gusto, exhibiting the liveliest tokens of satisfaction and delight. Our artist has endeavoured to represent the noble creature in his bath, though the pencil can afford but an imperfect idea of the extasy of the animal on this occasion.” (The Mirror of Literature, 4 August 1832].

The full story of the royal menagerie can be found in Daniel Hahn’s The Tower Menagerie (2003).

When I initially started writing this post I didn’t really expect to find much research to draw upon, and so thought it might lead to just one or two more short posts about menageries and aviaries in parks and gardens over the coming weeks and months. How wrong could I be? There is, in fact, a lively group of researchers out there – archaeologists, zoologists, cultural historians, as well as a few garden historians who have produced some really interesting work over the past few years. The best place to start if you are interested in knowing more is the Bartlett Society, named in honour of Abraham Bartlett, the great nineteenth-century superintendent of the Zoological Society of London’s gardens at Regent’s Park:

http://www.zoohistory.co.uk/home

The historical research that really got me excited was a recent PhD thesis (Manchester 2010) by Christopher Plumb on exotic animals in 18thc England. It’s erudite, fascinating and rather macabre by turns, and amazingly, Dr Plumb has made it freely available on the web, although he is also turning it into a book. If you are interested in man’s evolving relationship with animals or in topics such as “The Queen’s Ass”, “Exotic animals as luxury ingredients”, or “Eroticising the eel” then I strongly urge you to take a look.

http://christopherplumb.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/plumbthesis2010.pdf

And there’s a whole chapter on elephants in Britain 1675-1830! So expect some more posts over the coming months about keeping animals in our gardens and parks.

fromhttp://londonselephants.blogspot.co.uk Regents Park July 2008

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bartlett, Blenheim, Christopher Plumb, elephants, Elizabeth I, George IV, Henry VIII, James I, porcupine, Regent's Park, royal beast, Tower of London, Tudor, Woodstock, Zoo | 1 Comment

Mechanical elephants….

Posted on 10/07/2014 by The Garden History Blog

I know that Britain’s parks and gardens are amazing places, and that some of them had aviaries and small menageries in them – indeed a few still do – but it was still a surprise to discover this piece of film footage from 1949.

Jumbo is a pretty impressive piece of engineering and so obviously I wondered what he/she/it was doing in a public park in Hull. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to discover much more because the local newspaper online archive doesn’t go back that far , and although the Hull History Centre has a webpage devoted to the city’s parks and gardens, including a short entry on Pickering Park, there’s no mention of Jumbo anywhere. Unfortunately our database can’t help either, because try as we might, we still haven’t got entries on every park in Britain yet and Pickering Park is one that still needs some research, so if you know anything about it please get in touch.

from http://cyberneticzoo.com

Jumbo was the brainchild of Frank Smith, a mechanically-minded coach driver, and his real home wasn’t a park in Hull but a garage in Morecambe! Here he is, being led by Mr Smith’s son Eric along the seafront promenade. Indeed Morecambe became the home of a whole herd of mechanical pachyderms as Mr Smith then sold the patent to a local company who went into mass – perhaps even mammoth – production. One of them has just been restored and was back at work recently:

Elephant returns to Lancashire

The whole story of Frank Smith and his invention is fascinating and can be found in various press cuttings & photos as well as a long letter written by his son which can be found on a wonderful website devoted to all things to do with early robots and cybernetic animals.

http://cyberneticzoo.com

Morecambe Gazette 15th April 1983
from: http://cyberneticzoo.com

I don’t want to steal all their thunder or all of the many surprises and eccentricities that you’ll find on cybernetic zoo but can’t resist sharing an extract from just one more cutting… and just how British is this?

http://gizmodo.com/everyone-should-get-to-travel-in-a-giant-mechanical-ele-1596340321

Frank Smith’s home-made elephant was, however, by no means unique. A rival company existed in Essex at about the same time and produced much larger “electrophants” which according to the manufacturer were taken around all the seaside resorts in the country.

You can find the full story of Frank Stuart and his elephants recorded in a lengthy article for the local newspaper, the Essex Chronicle in 2012,

http://www.essexchronicle.co.uk/Man-mechanical-elephants-went-world/story-15294792-detail/story.html

“Electrophants” at Goldhanger
http://www.churchside1.plus.com/Goldhanger-past/Eletrophants.htm

But in brief: the original developments took place at Thaxted in the late 1940s and early 50s which produced a Ford petrol engine driven version of which up to 25 full size and half-size models were produced.Unfortunately there was a slight design fault and the exhaust fumes emitted from the elephant’s trunk caused the children riding on the back to choke. A later model was electrically driven using conventional car batteries but it too suffered from design problems: poor distribution of weight between the batteries and the riders caused one to topple over. But Stuart and his colleagues were undaunted and eventually Bertha the Bionic elephant appeared on Blue Peter in 1967:

The elephants were also sold abroad, especially America, where one apparently was ridden by General Eisenhower at the Republican Party Convention in Atlanta in 1952:

Mechanical Elephants in America

Another, called – surprise surprise – Nellie, ended up in Adelaide where it still leads the Christmas Pageant! There’s a short video clip showing how she works at:

http://www.salife7.com.au/adelaide/places/historical/nellie-the-elephant

and if you want to see how they move take a quick look at Jeremy Clarkson riding one down a country lane – and you can probably imagine what he has to say about the need for an MOT certificate on a 60 year old mechanical elephant.

Unsurprisingly there’s lots more where all this came from! Its one of the great joys of garden history that one ends up exploring wonderfully diverse by-ways, so if you’re interested in following up the myths and realities of robotic elephants or other creatures, from ancient indian stories or the life-sized mechanical elephant that featured in a mediaeval feast right through to Jules Verne’s Steam House tales set in the Indian Mutiny, or the latest Pneubots then the best place to start is undoubtedly:

http://cyberneticzoo.com/

http://www.globalgiants.com/archives/2007/02/index4.html

The enormous ‘walking’ mechanical elephant that was ridden by President Eisenhower at the 1952 Republican National Convention which was sold at auction in 2007 http://www.globalgiants.com/archives/2007/02/index4.html

And finally have you any idea which four sites on our database have mentions of elephants?

Thought not!

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Frank Smith, Hull History Centre, mechanical elephant, Morecambe | Leave a comment

Gardens in the sky….

Posted on 04/07/2014 by The Garden History Blog

Royal Brough of Kensington and Chelsea Local Studies Library

From the underground delights of cemeteries and burial plots of the last couple of posts to something more uplifting and airy!

One of things I like about researching anything but particularly gardens and their history is the way one can get so easily diverted by endless possibilities and choices…. and very soon an afternoon that was intended to be devoted to tracking down a reference or a single piece of information has become an afternoon spent idly widening ones knowledge and finding another twenty things to research further next time! That’s what happened to me recently when I discovered this short piece of film footage whilst looking for something completely different….

that led to this…

and this:

and then this:

and of course I got hooked, forgot my original project and spent the next few hours looking at roof gardens instead!

The Derry & Toms gardens were, of course, those constructed between 1936-1938 by Ralph Hancock, covering 0.6 hectares on the roof of the former Derry and Toms Department Store in Kensington High Street.The tripartite gardens (Spanish, English and Tudor) formed an integral part of the design concept of the building. Hancock had previously designed the Garden of the Nations at the Rockefeller Centre in New York.

Royal Brough of Kensington and Chelsea Local Studies Library

Trevor Bowen’s plaque in the gardens
Tom Hannen, 2007

The gardens were the idea of Trevor Bowen of Barkers of Kensington, the department store group which owned Derry & Toms, and he wanted them to outdo the roof gardens not only of Barkers themselves but those of their great rival Selfridges as well. Derry & Toms closed in 1971 and the building briefly, but famously became the home of Biba. It is now split up between several chain stores but the roof garden remains intact as a restaurant and club in Richard Branson’s empire.

http://www.roofgardens.virgin.com

More interestingly is that the garden is a thriving concern, runs a gardening club, has exhibited at Chelsea this year and is currently fundraising to build a children’s garden in Beirut. More details on their blog:

http://vlog.virginlimitededition.com/category/blogs/the-roof-gardens/green-fingers

There is a short history of the gardens on our database:

http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/2837/history

one of the four flamingoes kept in the gardens.
http://www.roofgardens.virgin.com/en/the_roof_gardens/gallery/the_gardens

Ralph Hancock,
from a flyer produced by Neath Port Talbot College PGDS 602

I also discovered the informative and comprehensive website devoted to Ralph Hancock. I’m ashamed to say I had never heard of him until last week so I was quite taken aback by the range and quality of his work in both Britain and America. The website illustrates many of his gardens and has good links to other film and video footage as well as radio and TV clips. It is well worth taking a long look.

http://www.ralphhancock.com

Hancock ‘s gardening ideas are set out in When I make a Garden, published in 1935.

http://www.roofgardens.virgin.com/en/the_roof_gardens/gallery/the_gardens

There are several other blogs which have detailed posts on aspects of the gardens so rather than “borrow” their material I’ve included links here. I hope enjoy you enjoy meandering your way round them as much as I have. If you have access to back numbers of the RHS magazine The Garden then Ursula Buchan wrote an article about Hancock called “The Final Storey” in the October 1993 issue.

There are a lot of early black and white photos of the gardens in this blog from Kensington & Chelsea’s local studies library which covers the use of the gardens as a site in MichaeL Moorcock’s fiction:

https://rbkclocalstudies.wordpress.com/tag/derry-and-toms-roof-garden/

the 75th anniversary is covered in: http://universityofglasgowlibrary.wordpress.com/2013/09/20/derry-and-toms-roof-gardens/

and the BIBA days – 1971-1973 – are covered in:

Uriah, the Big Biba Roof garden Derry and Toms 1973.

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The Spanish Garden on the roof of the Derry and Toms Building in Kensington High Street. © English Heritage.NMR
Reference Number: AA084998

The Tudor Garden on the roof of the Derry and Toms Building in Kensington High Street, 1971
© English Heritage.NMR
Reference Number: AA084999

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged kensington, ralph hancock, roof garden | Leave a comment

John Claudius Loudon…and cemeteries continued

Posted on 27/06/2014 by The Garden History Blog

The tomb of Loudon's father in Pinner Churchyard . Image from ledgeoflondon.com/curiosities.html

The tomb of Loudon’s parents in Pinner Churchyard .
Image from http://www.knowledgeoflondon.com/curiosities.html

John Claudius Loudon had been fascinated by death and burial for many years before he began designing cemeteries.

His first, and probably most bizarre, work was the monument he designed for his parents’ grave in the churchyard of St John the Baptist’s church at Pinner in Middlesex. It bears the inscription: “Sacred to the memory of William Loudon of the original stock of the Loudon family, of the parish and county of Midcalder. He died 29 December AD 1809. This monument, set up by John Claudius Loudon, the eldest of his sons, stands as a witness of his piety”. Loudon’s mother, Agnes, died in 1841 and her inscription, on the other end of the coffin can be seen here:

The inscription to Agnes Loudon
image from http://www.pjbartlett.co.uk/Pinner%20History.htm

Local historian Walter Druett in Pinner in History [1937] records the folklore behind it: “Pinner churchyard contains a monument that is probably unique. It consists of a tall pyramid, through the middle of which protrudes a stone coffin. It was raised to the memory of William and Agnes Loudon whose bodies lie in the coffin. William Loudon and his wife inherited some money under a will which stipulated that they should receive a certain sum so long as their bodies were above the ground. By burying his parents above the ground, a son sought to keep a bequest in the family”. In fact, they are more mundanely buried in a vault beneath.

Despite his evident interest Loudon does not seem to have been involved in the design of any of the great early 19thc cemeteries. Indeed he only had 3 commissions and they all date somewhat ironically from the months immediately before his own death in 1843.

Alternative designs in Gothic and Italian style for the entrance lodges, from John Claudius Loudon, On the Laying Out, Planting and Managing of Cemeteries, 1843

Alternative designs in Gothic and Italian style for the entrance lodges, at Histon Road from John Claudius Loudon, On the Laying Out, Planting and Managing of Cemeteries, 1843

The first was the small non-denominational Histon Road Cemetery in Cambridge set up by a group of non-conformist businessmen who established the Cambridge General Cemetery Company Ltd in 1842. Here Loudon worked with the architect Edward Buckton Lamb. His ideas, and detailed alternatives to them, were not merely submitted to the company but also used as an exemplar in his book On the Laying Out, Planting and Management of Cemeteries in 1843.

They cover everything from the site plan and the buildings right through the preparation of what we would now call a business plan for the cemetery. His calculations covered several pages of notes and included mortality rates, the types of burial and coffins to be allowed, and the depth of graves and vaults, as well as the costs of trees and shrubs in his planting schemes.

Histon Road Cemetery, Cambridge From John Claudius Loudon, On the Laying Out, Planting and Managing of Cemeteries, 1843

Histon Road Cemetery © Copyright Rob Noble & licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence

Now closed, it is cared for by Cambridge City Council working closely with the Friends of Histon Road Cemetery. As one of the best preserved examples of Loudon’s work the Cemetery is English Heritage grade II* listed.For more information take a look at our database entry and the website of the Friends of Histon Road Cemetery:

http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/1754

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Whilst Loudon was working on his designs for Cambridge his next cemetery commission – an ‘overflow’ burial ground for Bath Abbey- arrived.

http://www.bathabbey.org/history/abbey-cemetery

From a drawing by C.P. Russell, Clerk to the Rectory of Bath,.c1850 http://www.bathintime.co.uk/image/233053/view-of-the-bath-abbey-cemetery-lyncombe-vale-1850

The new Bath cemetery was to be nowhere near the Abbey itself. Instead, in line with contemporary practice, it was set out on a hillside on the rural fringes of the town. Built in Anglo-Norman style by local contractors it did not open until 1844 after Loudon’s own death but it still used his designs and embodied his principles: to dispose of the dead in a hygienic manner, to improve the morals and taste of society, by its architectural quality and botanical riches, and to serve as a historical record for future generations. Loudon also said that the Cemetery should be conspicuous from a distance, be an ornament to the surrounding countryside and an impressive memento to mortality. Even today, perched high on a hill it has wonderful views back over Bath. The cemetery continued to be used as a place of burial until 1995, when it was formally closed and handed over to the care of the Local Authority.

For more information see our database, the website of the abbey itself, or the local community association:

http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/4/summary

http://www.widcombeassociation.org.uk/abbey.html

http://www.bathabbey.org/history/abbey-cemetery

The former non-conformist chapel at Southampton OLd Cemetery © Copyright Jim Champion and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

His final commission, in every sense, was at Southampton. Although he was normally based in at his villa in Bayswater Loudon had been staying on the Isle of Wight whilst his wife , Jane Webb Loudon [of whom more at some point in the future] was writing another book. [She was almost as indefatigable as John Claudius himself] The damp sea air aggravated his rheumatic fever and he decided to take temporary lodgings in Southampton to recover. The local council had just received Parliamentary approval for a new cemetery on former common land and asked him to submit a design scheme, paying him £37 for it. Loudon set to work and suggested amongst other things two chapels – one Anglican and one non-conformist – equal in size & side by side. He then died before such scandalous ideas were rejected out of hand by the Bishop of Winchester. After that alternative schemes were commissioned for much of the work from local contractors.

For more information see our database or the website of the Friends of Southampton Old Cemetery:

http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/3013

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Bath Abbey Cemetery
Image from http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1129821

Even though he was only responsible for the plans of three burial grounds – and they were only built in a substantially altered form – his importance for the design of Victorian cemeteries was immense. The great semi-rural necropolis at Brookwood, as well as London’s Ilford Cemetery are amongst the best examples of this influence.

For a heavyweight discussion of his significance see:Peter Johnson, J.C.Loudon’s ideal cemetery which is downloadable at:

Click to access 4.3-modern-cemetery-pdf2.pdf

Unfortunately Loudon, despite his more than 4 million published words, has largely been forgotten, probably because as John Gloag suggests his ideas… ‘those bright oases of creative thought” got lost in “a huge grey desert of intolerable verbosity……..” [Gloag, Mr Loudon’s England: The Life and Work of John Claudius Loudon, and his influence on architecture and furniture design, 1970]. Perhaps the time has come to resurrect him!

From John Claudius Loudon, On the Laying Out, Planting and Managing of Cemeteries, 1843

Finally…..the thing that has struck me most forcibly while researching the last couple of posts has been how much fascination there is for information about cemeteries, burials and death-related customs. Here are just a few to get you going… but let us know if you find anymore that you think would be of interest to other readers.

http://www.derelictlondon.com/cemetery–churches.html

http://www.cemeteryfriends.org.uk

http://londoncemeteries.co.uk

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