Period Gardens - So you think you have a Gertrude Jekyll under your lawn?

Period Gardens - So you think you have a Gertrude Jekyll under your lawn?

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By Francoise Murat

Townhill Park 2008 ©Francoise Murat

Whether it is a Humphry Repton, A William Kent or a Jekyll & Lutyens design, before you bring in the diggers there are a few things to consider when restoring or re-constructing a garden to its former glories. This first article looks at the planning that must go into starting such a project and the considerable investment involved in terms of both time and money.

Restoration and reconstruction are two distinct endeavours. Restoration is the reinstatement of a garden exactly as it was, supported by available drawings and plans, allowing the garden to be faithfully re-born in the 21st century.

However, the situation is not always so clear cut and restoration specialists are often faced with a dilemma – to which date does one restore? To the initial garden design and layout or the re-designed plans commissioned when another family moved in? What to do if both designs are equally valid and important?

Townhill Park, a Gertrude Jekyll garden belonging to the Montagu family in Southampton, was painstakingly researched, restored and re-constructed by Rosaleen Wilkinson and other volunteers from 1997 to this day where work continues.


Before Restoration	After Restoration

Now belonging to a private school, the Arts and Crafts gardens have been literally unearthed through the debris that had accumulated through years of neglect. The Sunken Garden, the pergola and dry walling are typical of Gertrude Jekyll’s designs.

The re-construction of a garden is the creation of a garden based on existing architectural evidence but where no plans or information exist of the original design. This requires much research not only of primary sources but also of secondary sources contemporary to the time so that a faithful ‘finishing off’ can be executed.


Before Restoration	After Restoration

If you think that you have a gem of a historical garden underneath that croquet lawn hiring a professional garden archaeologist/historian may provide the answer. If you have a smaller garden and you fancy doing some detective work then here are some ideas to get you started:

• Remember that if you garden is listed you may have to apply for consent-always check with the local planning office. Better safe than sorry.

• Thoroughly research your garden before you start any physical digs, this will save you time and money in the long run by avoiding unnecessary work.

• Once you have uncovered as much information as is feasibly possible, aim to have a chronological time-line of when the garden was designed and built and by whom. If you know the garden designer’s name, research as much as possible about them and look at their gardens. Compare and contrast their style, the planting plans and the landscaping details used.

• Formulate a plan of action once you have all information at hand, remember that if you are going through this process it is good to think about how you are going to store and organise all of this information for easy access and for posterity- after all, if you are going through all this trouble to uncover a Jekyll gem you might as well document it correctly!

• Decide how you will look after the garden and who will actively maintain it. Why is this important? Planting plans from the Jekyll era for example utilise plants of the time and many are not available or no longer in existence – horticulture has evolved and many plants have new varieties, new colours or have just become extinct. Also one must remember that the garden of those periods required intense and heavy maintenance regime, most well off home owners with a garden usually had domestic help to look after them – something that most of us these days cannot afford. A faithful restoration usually requires strict adherence to the original plant choice. Replacements are often required for plants that cannot be found. The planting plans of yesteryear are often very labour intensive to maintain and unsuitable for a 21st Century lifestyle.

• Are you going to allow the public to visit the site once it is finished? If this is the case it is wise to plan for facilities which are almost de rigeur in any garden these days- toilets, a café, a bookshop? If this is purely for your eyes only, then one does not need to worry about such things but it is wise to still plan for the shed, a potential greenhouse and other requirements of a normal garden.

• If you have old greenhouses or sheds on site dating back to the original period of the house or garden these might be listed. Always good to check, as any work undertaken to the structure must conform to English Heritage and/or local planning requirements. The repair of old greenhouses and potting sheds is very expensive, so best considered at the initial planning stages of the project.

But where to look, for all this information?

Historical and listed properties are likely to have much more information on your garden that once was than a 1920s semi-detached house, but either way, start in the County Records Office of the major town nearest to your house. Libraries also have access to academic records which are not accessible to the public but that are available for consultation on site.

Local museums and county archives are also good places to try as they are likely to have maps of the area often dating back hundreds of years. These records often afford a fascinating glimpse of the social map of the time and as well as leads to further research.

Ordinance Survey maps start between 1850 to the 1910’s but thereafter there isn’t much information until the 1940’s when OS started again. Aerial maps are available from the 1930’s onwards and can be a useful source of information. This will all help in allowing you to support your restoration project if you already have extensive plans and information or indeed give you guidance if you are re-constructing the garden.

So, fully armed with all the information you require the time has come to take spade to soil, so to speak, and begin your great archaeological dig! A few final thoughts:

• Do not utilise a digger to scrape off the top layers, it is unlikely that the older garden is anything but a few centimetres deep and a digger will destroy any hard landscaping which remains. The use of good old fashioned hard work is the ticket here - little and often, one area at a time.

• If you have a smaller garden, try to construct a grid over the garden with string at 500mm intervals so that you can plot where to dig and how according to the plans you have.

• Depending on the time scale you have yourself remember to work with the seasons – it is perhaps wise to clear a garden during autumn and winter, before things grow again, this will make for lighter work and the areas you manage to clear will be ready for planting.

Our next article will feature planting plans and maintenance as well as tips and ideas on how to adapt a restored or re-constructed garden to the 21st Century.

Francoise Murat & Associates are a small but thriving Interior Design and Garden and Landscape Design practice based on the South Coast. We specialise in historical restoration and renovation for period homes and listed properties. From small suburban projects to 65 acres in the New Forest we are a multi-disciplinary team that thrive on challenges and we utilise the latest technology and knowledge to bring back to life past histories whether for gardens or interiors.

Find us in the Heritage Register