The Historic Gardens & Landscapes of England Project

Study Day

Saturday 8 March 2008

Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol

The Historic Gardens and Landscapes of England is a nationwide research project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, which aims to identify and record the most significant historic gardens and designed landscapes in the English counties. Based at the University of Bristol, the ultimate goal is to document all the historically significant gardens and designed landscapes in England. The Principal Investigator of the project is Professor Timothy Mowl of the University’s Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, and his Research Fellow, who is co-ordinating the research, is Dr Clare Hickman.

Professor Mowl recognised the need for a country-wide analysis of England’s historic gardens and landscapes eight years ago while writing a course book for the University’s MA in Garden History. Over the last seven years he has visited more than 700 gardens in Gloucestershire, Dorset, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. The first six volumes of the series have been published by Tempus Publishing of Stroud. These are: Historic Gardens of Gloucestershire (2002), Historic Gardens of Dorset (2003), Historic Gardens of Wiltshire (2004), Historic Gardens of Cornwall (2005), Historic Gardens of Worcestershire (2006) and Historic Gardens of England: Oxfordshire (2007). The latest volume on Northamptonshire will be published in June 2008.

This Study Day aims to disseminate the findings of the project so far and to look at the character of individual counties as demonstrated by their designed landscapes. The day will be introduced by Professor Mowl who will discuss the significance of the project and some of the exciting discoveries he has made over the last seven years. He will explore whether a generalised history of garden design in England really has any validity as experiments in individual counties often run counter to accepted theories. Dr Clare Hickman (the project’s Research Fellow and consultant for Northamptonshire) will analyse the lost Elizabethan gardens of Northamptonshire, Marion Mako (the consultant for Cheshire) will look at the influence of philanthropy on the designed landscapes of Cheshire and, finally, Dr Dianne Barre (consultant for Staffordshire) will show us the variety of follies to be found the gardens of Staffordshire. The day will conclude with a general discussion of what the project has achieved so far, its significance for garden history as a discipline and the contribution to scholarship it hopes to provide in the future. All delegates will be encouraged to contribute to this lively debate.

For further information, and to book a place, contact clare.hickman@bristol.ac.uk. Fees are £18 for full rates and £14 for students – this is to cover the costs of coffee, lunch and tea.