Fiona’s Spring 2012 Blog

FIONA’S SPRING 2012 BLOG

Versailles

Geometric Parterre by The Orangery, Versailles

Although my intention was to update this blog for the late autumn/winter, events conspired to prevent this, with various other activities needing to be done more urgently. They include work on the Trust’s responses to several planning issues and in particular the recent Bracknell Forest Council’s consultation about planning policy in relation to Broadmoor, a Grade II registered landscape near Crowthorne. Research is another important area. We have been revising the research form and prioritising sites which need to be looked at, to provide some examples to encourage others to join us.

The Trust has also been busy with the Hungerford Tragedy Memorial Garden and Watlington House projects, contributing an article about the Hungerford garden for the 2012 Association of Gardens Trusts’ Yearbook, about which you will find more elsewhere on the website and in the Spring/Summer Newsletter. The AGT publication contains articles about all sorts of activities with which County Gardens Trusts are involved across the country and makes interesting reading; a copy is available for each Berkshire Gardens Trust member and can either be
collected at a Trust event or acquired if you email or telephone enquiry to us
(we still have some 2011 copies available too if you missed out on this).

On a personal note, I have been lucky enough to go on some great visits to some exhibitions about designed landscapes over the last few months. Some of you may have seen last autumn’s excellently displayed ‘Capability Brown’ exhibition at Compton Verney, Warwickshire. As well as paintings and plans, it was interesting to see some of the equipment which Brown and others would have used in the course of their work in the 18^th century. Another exhibition a bit closer to home was at the Ashmolean in Oxford, where a huge number of prints and some large-scale paintings illustrated the sorts of details observed by the French artist Claude-Lorrain,
who together with Nicolas Poussin, influenced so many of the classically-inspired 18^th century and subsequent garden landscapes in Britain.

In terms of garden visits, I enjoyed my annual ‘pilgrimage’ to  Welford Park, near Newbury in West Berkshire, to see the snowdrop display. Although the sharp cold spells in February and lack of rain has affected so much in the garden, they were still a delight, even on a dull day. The mixed crocus, aconites and hellebores nearer the house complemented them perfectly. It is lovely to have such a special place relatively close by to visit towards the end of winter.

More recently, I was lucky enough to experience several hot, sunny days in Paris. While the trip to Versailles was a little disappointing, due to the statues still being ‘under wraps’ and the various ponds drained, it was still impressive (see opening picture) and also interesting to see the last of the winter work to get the gardens ready for Easter and the summer season: an excuse for a future visit to see the fountains!.  We were however, enchanted by Le Hameau, Marie-Antoinette’s beloved and delightful hamlet with farm and other ornamentally ‘rustic’ buildings: I quite forgave her any extravagances!

I also took Mike on a mini-tour of some of the wonderful public parks in Paris, all of which have played a role in the regeneration and ‘improvements’ to the city in recent centuries. It was interesting to note how they were being enjoyed and
used as well as some of the maintenance issues which it seems beset so many landscapes the world over, especially where economic pressures are present.

The largely 18^th century styled peaceful Parc Monceau, towards the north-west of the capital, towards the north-west of the capital, is a few streets from the bustle of the Arc de Triomphe and still quite well tended.

Parc Buttes-Chaumont

Arch and Columnade, Parc Monceau

Well used, especially by nannies and businessmen, its columnade, arches, other carefully placed features and lawns were in good condition.

To the north-east, the  sloping and lake-side lawns of the dramatic 19^th century Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (commissioned by Napoleon III in the Baron Haussmann era, when huge swathes of Paris were ‘modernised’ and ‘improved’), were full of all sorts of Parisians and visitors picnicking and sunbathing around the 50 metre man-made rocky promontory rising out of the lake.

Parc Buttes-Chaumont

Parc Buttes-Chaumont's Promontory' and its Belvedere

Complete with its belvedere, modelled on the Temple of Sibyl at Tivoli, Italy, it is ageing well.

The late 20^th century Jardins Atlantique, above the Gare de Montparnasse and  surrounded by tall buildings, contain some hidden delights, both in terms of planting and stylish design features such as stylish ‘art nouveau’ lamps and paving designs as well as stepped, scalloped lawns whose shapes were echoed by perimeter seating, raised walkways through lush vegetation within which interesting slate/stone structures were positioned and with a colourful children’s play area and tennis courts to either side.

Jardins Atlantique

Meteorological Sculptures, Jardins Atlantique

The centre of the park has some metallic sculptures; actually a series of instruments for measuring elements of the weather. Sadly, the concrete used for some of the central paths and the wooden-slatted seating were deteriorating, although it was well used, both as a resting place and a thoroughfare.

Another late 20^th century venue, the Parc de la Villette, towards the north-east of Paris, is a real ‘green, cultural lung’ through which the Canal Martin runs with a near-by basin and locks. The park provides a short-cut to and from the River Seine for large boats. It has a lot of open grassy areas and some modern sculpture; we were particularly taken with the ‘de-constructed’ bicycle. However, much of the ‘prairie area’ to the north of the canal and some of the other ‘compartments’ which I remember from a previous visit 10 years ago, appear to have been ‘sacrificed’ for the extension of the musical conservatoire, theatre and science park and large exhibition buildings. Once again it was certainly very well used, especially by families and youngsters taking advantage of the sunshine after school and ‘in transit’ workers and tourists.

Promenade des Plantes

Compartment Garden, Promendade des Plantes

Close by is the Promenade des Plantes, yet another recently created green thoroughfare on the site of an old railway-line; an urban regeneration project to and from the Canal Martin near the Bastille. A few kilometres in length, it incorporates some interesting planting in ‘compartments’ punctuated by trellis and other features, as well as lots of seating. Part-way along, there is also a cafe and upmarket artisan workshops to visit below.

Finally, the late 20^th century Parc Andre Citroen, parallel to the Seine on a previous car and munitions factory site to the south-west of the Hotel des Invalides and the Eiffel Tower, provides what is said to be the third-most expansive urban view in Paris. Although the sunken garden ‘rooms’ and sloping, geometric concrete rills and other features, showed some signs of neglect (the lining of the drained, long rectangular water trough was heavily patched with fountains and concrete edges not looking good),
the overall impact was still as great as when I first visited earlier this century. Certainly the computer-controlled fountains set between two large ‘glasshouses’ are still dramatic, while the geometry of the planted hedges and of the paths between them and across the lawns bisecting the site, remains largely intact and creates an impact, despite the intrusion of a tethered hot-air balloon (which you can pay to ascend in), promoting the services of an environmentally-friendly French bank!

Parc Andre-Citroen

Computer-controlled fountains, Parc Andre-Citroen

Happy Garden Visiting this Spring to all readers!

Fiona’s Summer Blog

To paraphrase Keats, it is the season of garden conferences. I thought I would use this opportunity to give an idea of what goes on at such an event and bring to life some of the historic designed landscapes visited.  In late July, I attended the Garden History Society’s AGM and Conference weekend event based at the University of Keele, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (Grade II* listed hall and Grade II grounds), which took place the weekend before our own County Trust AGM at Watlington House, Reading (to be covered elsewhere).

The GHS conference event was  entitled Modern Restorations, Old Landscapes: Georgian, Victorian and a Touch of Palladio.

The Formal Gardens, Keele Hall

Friday morning was set aside for a Graduate Symposium chaired by Patrick Eyres, editor of the wonderfully stimulating The New Arcadian Journal, where a number of presentations illustrated just how varied a subject garden history is. The formal AGM followed and included a debate about the continuing project where the Garden History Society, the Association of Gardens Trusts, the UK Parks & Gardens Database and the Garden Museum are discussing ways in which they can all work closer together to help protect, enhance and research gardens so as to maximise the benefits for all of us, including what funding and policy support may in future be available from such bodies as English Heritage and various government departments. The point was also made that due to less resources being available, the Association of Gardens Trusts members would have to become more engaged with planning issues which would need the support of the GHS and AGT. There was also a presentation by the Conservation Team which does its best to focus its expertise by commenting on Grade II and Grade II*  registered parks and gardens and contributing to their conservation and management plans.  This work includes sensitive and constructive consideration of issues affecting a wide range of designed landscapes, for example from schools or other institutions who wish to make changes to them to applications for wind farms. While there were some queries about practicalities, most attendees seemed to recognise that we all need to adapt how we operate in order to be successful in this straightened economic times.

On Friday evening drinks in the Victorian Library at Keele Hall were followed by an enlightening talk by Dr. Nigel Tringham, who has been the Editor for the Victoria County History of Staffordhsire for over a decade. His talk brought to mind elements of Berkshire, when he mentioned the fact that poor soil in much of the now depleted county (which has suffered as we have from border changes), gave rise to a focus on hunting parks. On Saturday morning, we enjoyed a tour of the university grounds, which cover the 18th to the 21st centuries, with a re-created formal garden in the High Victorian style close to Keele Hall itself. With a bit of imagination, it is possible to erase the less attractive 20th century educational buildings and block out the nearby M6 and go back to a different era.

Trentham's Italianate Garden Terraces from the Duke of Sutherland's Statue

Saturday afternoon was a highlight for me, with a visit to Trentham Gardens (English Heritage Grade II* registered), to see the now finally restored to splendour seen at its best on a sunny summer afternoon, with the Italian Garden terraces planted with a wonderful mixture of plants under the direction of Tom Stuart-Smith within Charles Barry’s original design framework. Two of us also made it up a steep incline to view the formal gardens from over a mile away from the clearing where a fine statue of the Duke of Sutherland stands looking towards the gardens and beyond to the Shropshire hills. The other planting treats were the Long Borders planted by Piet Odulf and the Eastern Pleasure Ground’s wonderful River of Grasses and Floral Labryinth.

Sunday morning brought a surprise when I discovered that the Head Gardener at Adlington Hall (English Heritage Grade I listed building and Grade II* registered landscape), just over the border in Cheshire, was Anthony O’Grady, who studied with me at Birkbeck for our MA in Garden History. He gave us a fascinating tour of a half-hidden 18th century landscape. Typically for that period, the layout lent itself to an almost ‘Alice in Wonderland’ like tour. At times we had to negotiate rough paths cut through invasive shrubs. We firstly took in a Temple of Diana where the interior roof scrolls and garlands decoration of the rotunda, which was supported by Roman Doric columns, was in such good condition it looked as though it was painted yesterday.

The Temple of Diana, Adlington

Henbury Hall provided the promised ‘touch of Palladio’, with a late 20th century perfectly symmetrical creation in french limestone (loosely based on Palladio’s Villa Capra, La Rotonda, near Vicenza in Italy), by architect Julian Bicknell and statues by New Zealand artist Felix Kelly, responsible for murals in Castle Howard and remodelling Highgrove for Prince Charles. The Hall gazes out onto classic English park and farmland with sheep grazing beneath avenues of trees, with gardens created by Sir Vincent de Ferranti, son of the owner Sir Basil de Ferranti, and Gilly Brown a relaxing contrast leading down to and around lakes and featuring a ‘Crystal Palace’ style wooden framed conservatory within which is located a very inviting-looking pool.

Henbury Hall's Palladian Villa

Fiona’s July Blog

THE GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY

and

ASSOCIATION OF GARDENS TRUSTS’ AGMs

Spring 2011

The re-launch of the Berkshire Gardens Trust website has provided us with an opportunity to keep members in touch with what is going on in the wider world of heritage related to our parks & gardens.

Garden History Events

Last year, Fiona Hope provided some highlights of the Garden History Society’s July Annual General Meeting and conference in Nottingham, while Liz Ware provided an interesting insight into the 2010 Association of Garden Trust’s Annual General Meeting and weekend conference which took place on the Isle of Wight last October. Both events included plenty of visits to interesting designed parks and gardens in the areas concerned as well as opportunities to learn more about the subject and network and generally have fun with like-minded people.