Another wonderful year of restoration, discovery and growing!
Thank you all again for your support over the last year, we hope you’ve had a lovely Christmas and will be looking forwards to the new year, with plans for your gardens and projects underway. It was a very sad start to the year saying farewell to Susan Campbell, but she would be glad to know work continues on and in walled gardens all over the British Isles. Although there will always be historic gardens to rescue, protect and hopefully become productive again, the appreciation of the enormous importance of these places is still increasing – a wonderful legacy to Susan and Fiona who had the brilliant idea of starting the Network, and one we will continue.
To that end, we are delighted and excited to announce the date and venue for the Forum 2025. With huge thanks to Zara Gordon-Lennox we are returning to Scotland, to Gordon Castle Walled Garden – 19th & 20th September 2025.
When Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox started the renovation back in 2013 the site was an overgrown field. Since then, the 15th century garden has been painstakingly and beautifully restored: https://www.gordoncastle.co.uk/garden/
Forum 2024 – Uncovering and Discovering Hidden History
We have had many people to thank for the Forum held this year at the National Trust Walled Garden at Knightshayes Court, with a day of visits to wonderful private gardens nearby. We began the first day with inspiring talks, held in Old Heathcoat School Hall, before heading to the walled garden and take over of their polytunnel for our private lunch! It was as ever, great to see so many old and new friends, and we will certainly remember Tara’s fabulous cakes, and lunch from their garden on the second day at Ashley Court.
We are very grateful to all our speakers the first ‘The Glasshouse and Walled Kitchen Garden at Althorp’ was given by archaeologist Dr. Siân Thomas. She was responsible for the excavation of the hidden glasshouses, buried for decades and representing around 250 years of the evolution of these buildings. Remarkable hidden history, that Susan Campbell was asked to advise on during 2022.
The next talk ‘The Walled Garden at Wood’, was from Lord (Julian) Darling, a chartered surveyor with extraordinary experience and knowledge of walled gardens both through his career and personally. The walled garden at Wood, semi derelict when he and Lady Darling took it over, was redesigned to create a manageable garden, and realigning paths to make more sense of the whole. During the talk he gave us food for thought, noting that all the landed estates of 1000-5000 acres, will have had a walled kitchen garden, then briefly introducing Heritage Property tax relief, which began a few conversations at lunch.
Michel Schlosser who many of you know from the European Symposium gave an introduction to the upcoming world heritage days in 2025, for ‘The Art of Espalier’ – now recognised in France under the UNESCO protocol for Intangible Cultural Heritage, there will be two weekends 1-2 March and 20-21 September 2025 (see Forum 2025). The most recent newsletter is also on the Grapevine.
The final presentation was from head gardener Will Woodman and senior gardener Andy Strachan, on ‘The History and Future of the Kitchen Garden at Knightshayes’ which included guidance for organic gardening that they now follow. After lunch Will and his team took us on tours of the gardens and behind the scenes, and gave us insights to their future plans, now underway.
at Knightshayes
Day two was a magical tour of productive private gardens, beginning at Regency House owned by Jenny Parsons, who introduced us to her highly productive garden with her ethos of never buying veg, and giving away excess when the freezer is full – a personal garden loved by its owner (and dog) and generously shared with us.
We then went to Ashley Court, met by owners Tara Frazer and Nigel Jones with glasses of apple juice and sparkling cider. Tara gave an introduction to the history of the gardens, set across a steep valley. We had plenty of time to wander and explore this historic place, still being brought back to life. Lunch was laid out in the house, grown by Tara and Nigel, and prepared with her team on the day, can genuinely be described as a feast for the eyes (and tummy). We are so grateful to them all.
From there we drove over to Holcome Court – a Tudor manor that has been sensitively restored alongside the gardens, by owner Nigel Wiggins and head gardener Kathy Worner. Nigel gave an overview and background to the renovations (house and garden) after which we could explore the gardens at leisure, under blue autumn skies with Nigel and Kathy on hand to answer (and ask!) numerous questions.
The generosity and kindness of our hosts was wonderful and again we all felt welcomed, there was a continuous murmur of conversation and it was hard to leave to move on.
at The Regency House
at Ashley Court
at Holcombe Court
Other news – 2024 also took us to Holland for the second in-person meeting of the European Symposium for the Conservation of Historic Fruit and Kitchen Gardens, in association with sKBL, Dutch Historic Houses – there is a report on the event in the recent newsletter (see The Grapevine 24th Nov.) The next online webinar is with presentations from the USA: Old Salem on 23rd January 2025 at 4pm (3pm UK)
We will stay in touch, and send details for booking for the Forum 2025 at Gordon Castle Walled Garden in due course, along with information for our speakers, but for now please put the dates 19th & 20th September in your diaries and if you’d like to, register your interest now.
We wish you all a very Happy New Year and look forwards to seeing you online soon, and in Scotland in September.
With best wishes from us all
Lucy, Mike, Sarah, Jim, Theo and Julian
Happy New Year! So lovely to read of your 2024 Forum. Please can register my interest for Gordon Castle now? V excited!!
Thankyou for all your hard work putting the forum together really interesting visits seeing a range of different gardens. Thanks again for transporting me around, lovely to meet everyone, hope to make this years.
Happy new Year all .
Happy New Year to all our dear leaders of the Network and for the excellent resumé of the year’s activities.
How long till Somersets’s cider apples are replaced by pawpaw and avocado?