The first modern public sign of Biddulph’s importance was when it was chosen as the garden to represent the 19thc on commemorative stamps in 1983
Last week’s post on the Geological Gallery at Biddulph was, I hope, something of an insight in to the mindset of James Bateman its creator in the mid-19thc. Today’s is designed to look at the gardens he created there, partly because both he and his wife were passionate about plants but partly as a reinforcement of his belief in a divine creator or as modern parlance would have it, an intelligent designer.
photo by Edward Moss
Biddulph was intended to reveal not just the variety of creation across the globe but also its variety through time. The Batemans reshaped the landscape to suggest the geological processes which had formed the plants native environments, and then presented the earth’s story from the days of Creation – using fossilised tree ferns in the garden for example – to the rise of the civilizations of Egypt, China and western Europe.
One of the main reasons this was possible was the Wardian case, which, because it allowed live plants to be carried safely and securely on long sea voyages, had opened up the world to western plant collectors. Working with Edward Cooke, the Batemans turned 15 acres [6 hectares] of poor quality land into a showcase for this vast range of newly introduced plants. The result was an extraordinary complicated confection of spaces and planting that defies any simple description. Continue reading
As I arrived at the posh hotel I was staying in [bargain winter break prices I hasten to add] I was reminded of new work from each of those forums. At our 2015 conference we heard a paper about villa gardens on the Ligurian coast of Italy, and recently there was an essay prize entry on the exotic gardens created for new grand hotels along the French Riviera in the late 19th. As it happens I wasn’t in either France or Italy although there is a strong French influence, as you will have realised if you’ve worked out who did the painting and inspired the pattern that was on part of my bedroom wall and ceiling.
The Garden History Blog 
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