A 10 week course at Burgh House, Hampstead.

• An introduction to English gardens, this course will run in tandem with visits and research for a new publication for Penguin, Random House, The Best 500 Gardens of England. It’s the perfect time to study, in-depth, the stories and the development of some remarkable English gardens.

The first half of the course will focus on Tudor and Elizabethan Gardens and the great ephemeral entertainments that took place in the landscape. We will use archival materials to investigate the lost gardens and my recent visits to discover what remains.

Some of the gardens we’ll be studying will include: Hampton Court Palace, Godolphin, Kenilworth, Lyvden New Bield & Theobalds. Moving on from the Elizabethan entertainments we will also examine, Jacobean and Stuart Gardens,  the influence of Italy and the court masques of Inigo Jones. The designers of this period will include Salomon de Caus, Isaac de Caus, Inigo Jones and Costantini de' Servi and their gardens such as Greenwich Palace, Wilton House and Hatfield House.

Course highlights 

• John Gerard, Barber-Surgeon and head gardener to William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley. His Herball was accused of having more than a touch of plagiarism 

• Francis Bacon's Essay Of Gardens 1625 and his country houses in Twickenham and Gorhambury

• The Enstone Marvels, Thomas Bushell (protégé of Bacon) and his garden of Renaissance style water tricks.

• John Tradescant, head gardener to 1st Earl of Salisbury at Hatfield House, nursery owner and collector of a cabinet of curiosities 

This is an in-person course that welcomes new and returning students alike.

Online Course

 1.5 hours a week for 10 weeks

Price

£250.00

Information

 This course will be at Burgh House from Thursday 3^rd October at 1pm - 2.30pm and each following Thursday with a half term break on 28th October. A recording of each Zoom session, along with lecture notes, will be available on request if you’re unable to attend. The link remains active for one month.