The Garden History Blog

Georgian Jubilation

Posted on 28/05/2022 by The Garden History Blog

detail of “A Jubilee at Frogmore” by Matthew Cotes Wyatt, 1809

“England’s public parks and gardens have played a central role in the celebration and the commemoration of royal jubilees for more than two hundred years. The roll call of jubilee gardens, coronation parks, queen’s parks and parks named after princes and princesses reflect these special associations from the Victorian era to modern times. Many of these parks and gardens are of special historic interest and protected by designations.”

Those words of Baroness Andrews, the then chair of Historic England prefaced the publication in 2012 of Jubilee-ation a short history of Royal Jubilees in public park, to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. It was largely written by my fellow Gardens Trust trustee, David Lambert, and it remains a good read.

Ten years on with the first ever royal Platinum Jubilee I thought over the next couple of weeks it would be a nice gesture to look back at the subject again and also see how things have developed. But I’m going to start earlier than that.

God Save the King. Print issued for Golden Jubilee of George III. [Historic Royal Palaces & Mary Evans Picture Library]

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art history, commercial pleasure gardens, conservation, folly, George III, obelisk, Restoration | Leave a comment

Pingle-Wingle, Lazy Maisie and Granny-jumps-out-of-bed

Posted on 21/05/2022 by The Garden History Blog

“A confocal micrograph of a section” of the plant I’m writing about by Kevin Mackenzie, University of Aberdeen

What on earth is this post about? This is after all a blog about gardens, designed landscapes and sometimes plants and their history. If you’re from a rural background and of the right age to remember children’s country games you might well know what the title refers to. But if you’re not here are some more clues: it’s a plant sometimes known elsewhere as old man’s nightcap, thunder flowers, scammony or Our Lady’s little glass.

Still none the wiser? I bet its one of those plants you definitely DON’T want. If you’ve got it be prepared for a long losing battle because when I googled it almost every reference was to ways of eradicating it, with the admission that it was well nigh impossible…and unfortunately I’ve just spotted it beginning its assault all round my garden.

It is of course….

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art history, folklore, weeds | Leave a comment

Brodsworth

Posted on 14/05/2022 by The Garden History Blog

As you probably know the Gardens Trust has been running an extensive on-line lecture programme for the last 2 years, including a regular Wednesday evening slot called Unforgettable Gardens. April’s lectures were run in partnership with English Heritage and included a talk on the gardens of Brodsworth Hall, a grand mid-Victorian country house in Yorkshire that has survived as an almost intact example of one man’s dream.

As it happened I’d been to Brodsworth only days before Daniel Hale, the head gardener wowed our audience with an account of the gardens, their history and their restoration over the past twenty years. Dan gave such a bravura performance that I almost decided not to write about my visit – but since normally the blog gets wider and longer-lasting coverage than our lectures I thought I could give an account of what you missed and encourage you to get up to Yorkshire to see it at the first possible opportunity.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged conservation, English Heritage, fernery, parterre, Rockery, Roses, statues, Topiary, Victorian | Leave a comment

Bevis Bawa @ Brief

Posted on 07/05/2022 by The Garden History Blog

Bevis Bawa supervising work by the gates of Brief. Pianting by Donald Friend, image from David Robson’s Bawa

Let’s start with some not very good [actually pretty awful] poetry because it gives a flavour of today’s subject:

In the land where the jaggery grows
And the skies are raucous with crows
Years ago on a pastoral hill
Which was left to him in a will
A young man was heard to declare
“I will build my kingdom here
And proclaim myself its chief
As the one and only
Bawa of Brief”

Bevis Bawa by himself from Bevis Bawa’s Brief ed by Neville Weereratne. 2011

The “kingdom” was never particularly large, and the “chief” gave much of it away during his lifetime but there’s no doubt that what was left – the “one and only” Brief which is an unexpectedly wonderful garden.

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Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged architecture, art history, conservation, sri lanka, tropical | 3 Comments

Harlaxton: “Beyond your imagination”

Posted on 30/04/2022 by The Garden History Blog

Harlaxton through the Gate by John Piper , 1977

Unfortunately I haven’t had a single answer to the question -“Why did he do it?” – that I posed at the end of last week’s post about Harlaxton the “Jacobethan” marvel dreamed up and then lovingly built by Gregory Gregory. But even if I had I doubt they’d have been as straightforward as what he told a visitor, in 1839 during the construction of the house.

Charles Greville noted in his memoirs that Gregory told him candidly that “as he is not married, has no children, and dislikes the heir on whom his property is entailed, it is the means and not the end to which he looks for gratification. He says that it is his amusement, as hunting or shooting or feasting may be the objects of other people.” So Harlaxton is essentially a rich man’s whim that was designed to occupy almost his entire lifetime. Thanks to several lucky breaks and against all the odds it has survived, inspired John Piper, and is still a place that the present owners rightly describe as “beyond your imagination.”