The Gardens Trust is interested in the conservation and use of public parks and gardens as well as private estates and in this talk, Paul Rabbitts discusses the origin and history of the bandstand and the development of its use throughout the Victorian and Edwardian periods. After a sad decline, there seems to be a […]
Sue Stuart-Smith is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist who worked in the NHS for many years, becoming the lead clinician for psychotherapy in Hertfordshire. She is married to Tom Stuart-Smith, the celebrated garden designer, and, over thirty years together, they have created the wonderful Barn Garden in Hertfordshire. Her book, The Well Gardened Mind, was published […]
The talk covers the development of cemeteries, and since 1902, of crematoria, and their differing landscapes addressing different purposes. The design of these, from Vanbrugh’s enthusiasm for the Indian cemeteries he had seen, to the modern natural burial, includes many overseas influences. Context from Buenos Aires to Surat, from Stockholm to Cape Town is provided. […]
This talk is based on William Wilshere’s Farm and Gardening Memoranda, spanning the years 1809 to 1824, supplemented by information from his cash books, bills and a journal and planting book started by his gardener, James Bowie, in 1812. Bowie left Wilshere in August 1814 when he was sent by Sir Joseph Banks on a […]
Temple Dinsley has a long and varied history from the settlement of the Knight’s Templar in the 12th century. It is at present being converted into private flats and dwellings. The highlight of the garden’s history is the work carried out by Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Fenwick family, starting in 1909. The planting may […]
This stunning five-acre octagonal walled garden at the heart of the Luton Hoo Estate was designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in the late 1760s for John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute. Bute was a friend and briefly Prime Minister to George 3rd and a noted botanist. Over the intervening centuries the garden evolved and reflected the changing […]
Despite being a popular designer in the early 18th century, Bridgeman’s place in garden history and many of his landscapes remained neglected over time. Although not so well-known as his illustrious successors, Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton, Bridgeman can be safely claimed as the first landscape designer of note to adopt a more naturalistic style […]
Following a successful Zoom lecture for us during lockdown, we are very pleased that Corinne Price will take us on a guided walk round the Swiss Garden, belonging to the Shuttleworth Collection near Biggleswade. Created in the 1820s for Lord Ongley, this nine-acre site was designed in the in the ‘Swiss Picturesque’ style and is […]
The gardens, which contain several Grade 1 listed features were laid out in the early 17th century as woodland with temples and statues. The patte d’oie, or goose foot design of avenues with connecting allées, allow views which flow out into the surrounding countryside. Edward Gilbert bought the estate in 1700, building the house in […]
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