Past Courses
Quintessential English Gardens - part 2
Taught at Burgh House, Hampstead
May 2019
The Garden Historians Summer term alternates between lectures at Burgh House and a garden trip the week after. This gives the group a wonderful opportunity to learn about a garden before a visit and enjoy each site with some background and context. We usually visit five gardens over the course of the term which will include private gardens not usually accessible to the public. Our visits will usually be on Thursdays with some exceptions due to availability and access.
Dates
Thursdays at Burgh House 10-30am-12.30pm with alternating visits. Term begins 2nd May 2019.
Confirmed garden visits:
Thursday 16th May 2019. Private visit to Haseley Court, Oxfordshire. Former home of Nancy Lancaster with the famous Chess Garden.
Thursday 23rd May 2019. Garsington Manor. A private visit to the Italianate Garden once belonging to Philip and Lady Ottoline Morrell with our guide the Head Gardener, Sam Wilson.
Wednesday 12th June 2019. Private visit to Ditchley Park house and garden, Oxfordshire. One of the last Italian gardens to be designed in England, by Geoffrey Jellicoe & Russell Page. Formerly owned by Nancy Lancaster.
Wednesday 26th June 2019. Visit to the private Rothschild walled garden at Eythrope, with lunch at Waddesdon Manor afterwards.
Thursday 11th July 2019. Visit with a private guided tour to the Islamic Gardens of the Aga Khan Centre.
Thursday 18th July 2019. Visit to the historic St. James’ Park, London. Looking for the lost Palace of Whitehall and the lost French canal of Charles II.
Garden entrance and transport costs not included in course fees.
Course fees
£220.00 for 10 weeks.
Booking
No longer available.
June 2019
The Early 18th Century English Garden
Taught at The Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution
From the formality of the Dutch garden designs of William and Mary at Kensington Palace and Hampton Court we will trace the development of garden design. Through the ‘transitional’ work of Charles Bridgeman to the apogee of the classical Arcadian landscape of William Kent, via Lord Burlington and the Grand Tour. Using influential and significant gardens we will look at the social and cultural aspects of their creation.
Gardens to be investigated include Hampton Court Palace, Kensington Palace, Stowe, Claremont, Rousham, Chiswick House.
Designers/influencers include George London and Henry Wise, Charles Bridgeman, Lord Burlington, William Kent, Alexander Pope, John Vanbrugh
Course fees
£80.00
Dates
13 & 14 June, 10.30am -4.30pm
More details and a booking from can be found on the HLSI website here
January 2019
Italian Gardens of the 20th Century
Taught at Burgh House, Hampstead
This term we welcome the return of Garden Historian and Classical Archaeologist, Michael Turner who will be delivering a special lecture.
Course Outline
From the Florentine Anglo-American gardens we look to further corners of Italy to see English gardens. Frederick Stibberd and his English garden with temples, grottoes and fountains and the Sitwells of Derbyshire at Montegufoni. The botanical collections of La Mortola and Villa Taranto and Lord Lambton at Cetinale making an English garden in the 1970’s.
We will be visiting a botanical garden during the term.
Course fees
£220.00 for 10 weeks.
Dates
From Thursday 19th January 10.30am-12.30pm 2019 for 10 weeks, with a half term break.
Booking
No longer available.
The Villas and Gardens of the Italian City States
This term we will be joined by the prolific author, historian and critic, Tim Richardson who specialises in landscape gardens and art. He writes regularly for Country Life, The Daily Telegraph and Gardens Illustrated.
Course Outline
Starting in the North of Italy and ending in Sicily, we will discover the gardens of the House of Savoy. The lost or changed landscapes of 17th century Piedmont with the help of the Theatrum Sabaudiae. Looking beyond the Medici to the Strozzi and Sassetti clans and their villas. The magnificent Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola and the romantic island of Bisentina will reveal the gardens of the Farnese.
This term includes a visit to The National Gallery.
Course fees
£220.00 for 10 weeks.
Dates
From Thursday 19th January 1.30pm -3.30pm 2019 for 10 weeks, with a half term break.
Booking
No longer available.
September 2018
We will be returning to Burgh House this September with two courses designed for both new and returning students. Our sessions are taught by the experienced Garden Historian, Deborah Trentham in the wonderful atmosphere of Burgh House, Hampstead, North London. Each course will include a visit that compliments our themes of study.
No prior experience of Garden History is necessary. Please come and join us.
Anglo-American gardens of Tuscany
A ten week course At Burgh House.
Looking at the writers, garden designers & owners Edith Wharton, Cecil Pinsent, Iris Origo & Harold Acton. We will study the beautiful gardens of La Foce, I Tatti, La Pietra, Le Balze amongst others.
Villas & gardens of the Italian City States
A ten week course At Burgh House.
Rome, from the rediscovery of ancient sculpture and the construction of the Vatican’s Belvedere Court, to the gardens of the Villas Borghese & Doria Pamphili. We’ll also study the fascinating gardens in the states of Mantua, Ferrara and the Republic of Genoa & Naples.
Quintessential English Gardens
May 2018
The summer term alternates between lectures at Burgh House, followed by a garden trip the week after. This gives the group a wonderful opportunity to learn about a garden before a visit and enjoy each site with some background and context.
Please see below for details
8 WEEK SUMMER TERM - Confirmed timetable.
May 3rd Burgh House. The Gardens of Nancy Lancaster
May 10th Trip to Kelmarsh Hall.
May 17th Burgh House. St. Paul's Walden Bury, the French style & Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe.
May 24th Trip to St. Paul's Walden Bury.
May 31st Half term
June 7th Burgh House. Sir Fredrick Gibberd and The Gibberd Garden.
June 14th 10.30am. Private opening of The Gibberd Garden.
June 21st Burgh House. Gardens of the Oxford Colleges.
June 28th Garden trip. Trip to Oxford College gardens - This is a full day trip.
Course fee is £198.00 for eight weeks. Students will make their own way to the gardens and pay for individual entrance fees.
Course fees need to be paid in full, in advance.
Garden entrance fees:
Kelmarsh Hall £6.00 free for RHS & Historic Houses card holders. The shop and tea room will be open.
St.Paul's Walden Bury. £7.50 per person (donated to charity).
The Gibberd Garden. £6.50 per person (includes private opening, talk and coffee & biscuits)
Oxford Gardens – details to be confirmed once numbers are known. We will visit several gardens most of which are just a few pounds each. This will be a full day in Oxford.
January 2018
We are delighted to be joined by celebrated author and garden historian Helena Attlee, who will deliver a special lecture for both our courses in January. We meet in the comfortable and relaxed music room of Burgh House, coffee, conversation and special biscuits await you. No prior experience of garden history is necessary, please come and join us. There will be no homework.
Gardens of the Italian Dynasties
Thursdays from 11th January 2018 at 10.30am - 12.30pm. 10 week course at Burgh House.
Starting in the North of Italy and ending in Sicily, we will discover the gardens of the House of Savoy. Investigating the lost or changed landscapes of 17th century Piedmont with the help of the wonderful volumes Theatrum Sabaudiae. The Dynasty of the Este’s and the 16th century ring of secret gardens, which once surrounded the walls of Ferrara will be covered. In the Tuscan countryside we look beyond the Medici to the Strozzi and Sassetti clans and the Strozzi villa at Santuccio and the Sassetti’s at Villa La Pietra.
£220.00
No longer available.
Gardens of the Veneto
Thursdays from 11th January 2018 at 1.30pm - 3.30pm. 10 week course at Burgh House.
A ten week course for new students. Our starting point will be the architecture of Palladio and the villas and gardens of the Veneto. Palladianism was to become the most influential style of the later sixteenth century. The classical nymphaeum of the Villa Barbaro will be decoded, identifying and interpreting the ten mythological figures and the iconographic scheme. The gardens of the Italian Lakes will look at the enchanted isles of the Borromeo family, Isola Bella and Isola Madre, and the renaissance detailing of the Villa d’Este and Villa Cicogna Mozzoni, with its fishponds and frescoes fresh from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
£220.00
No longer available.
Past Courses 2017
Introduction to Italian Renaissance Gardens
Thursday 21st September 2017 1.30-3.3o - 10 weeks course at Burgh House.
Our introductory course will include the following topics: The Gardens of the Medici family, the rediscovering of Antiquity, Ancient Gardens and the Classics, Ovid’s Metamorphoses & Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili & Utens’ Lunettes
Italian Renaissance Gardens
Thursday 21st September 2017 10.30-12.30 - 10 week course At Burgh House.
Our course for returning students will include: The Belvedere Court & Gardens of the Vatican Roman Baroque Gardens; Villa Borghese & Villa Doria Pamphili Mantua & Ferrara Gardens of the Republic of Genoa.
This term we have special lectures by Michael Turner, Classical Archaeologist & Garden Historian. The courses are taught in the comfortable and relaxed music room at Burgh House. No prior experience of Garden History is necessary. Please come and join us.
Courses cost £220.00
European Gardens
Thursday 12th January 2017 at 1.30pm-3.30pm
A ten-week course which will introduce the gardens of France,
Russia, Germany and Austria. We begin with French gardens and
Marie de Médicis continuing through to the Parisian schemes
of George-Eugène Haussmann and the city parks of Edouard
André. After half-term we will investigate Catherine the Great,
Prince Pückler-Muskau and the Potsdam landscapes. The term
includes a garden visit.
Italian Renaissance Gardens
Thursday 12th January 2017 at 10.30am-12.30pm
A new ten-week course begins with an introduction to Palladio
and the villas and gardens of the Veneto. Further topics will include
Ariosto’s poem Orlando Furioso in relation to Mannerist gardens.
After half term we’ll examine the beautiful Northern Italian
lakes, the setting for some extraordinary gardens: Isola Bella,
Villa d’Este and Villa Cicogna Mozzoni.
We will be joined by guest lecturer Michael Turner, classical
archaeologist and garden historian, who will be focusing on mythology
and iconography in Renaissance gardens.
Both our courses will be taught in the comfortable and relaxed music room
at Burgh House. No prior experience of Garden History is necessary.
Coffee, conversation and a genial atmosphere await you. Please come
and join us.
September 2016
We will be returning to Burgh House this September with two new courses designed for both new and returning students. Our sessions are taught by the experienced Garden Historian, Deborah Trentham in the wonderful atmosphere of Burgh House, Hampstead, North London.
Both our courses cost £200.00 for ten, two hour sessions. Please contact us with any questions or enquires.
We look forward to welcoming you to Burgh House this Autumn and remember there's no homework and free biscuits!
Italian Renaissance Gardens
Thursday 22nd September 2016 at 10-30am to 12.30pm
Course topics will include:
Rediscovering Antiquity
Ancient Gardens and the Classics
Gardens as Art
Ovid’s Metamorphosis & Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Hero of Alexandria’s Pneumatica
European Gardens - Holland & Spain
Thursday 22nd September 2016 at 1.30pm-3.30pm
The course will cover:
The Dutch Golden Age, monarchy, politics and diplomacy
Tulip mania – diplomacy, horticulture & botany
Honserlaardijk, Zorgvliet & Het Loo
Dutch Moderninsm, Piet Oudolf & The New Wave
Landscape, Gardens & Painting, Islamic Gardens of Spain
Discoveries of the Conquistadors
The Hapsburgs & The Bourbons
Summer term 2016
This term there will be a morning lecture (10.30am-12.30pm) paired with a garden
visit the following week. Our visits will include:
April 21st Burgh House lecture: Investigating the Swiss Garden
April 28th Visit to the Swiss Garden & Old Warden
May 5th Burgh House lecture: Discovering Hall Barn & Cliveden
May 12th Visit to Hall Barn & Cliveden
May 19th Burgh House lecture: The Rothschild's Ascott House
May 26th Visit to Ascott House
June 9th Burgh House lecture: Vita Sackville-West's Long Barn & Lord Astor's Hever Castle
June 16th Visit to Long Barn & Hever Castle
23rd June Burgh House lecture: Designer Tom Stewart Smith's gardens
30th June Visit to Broughton Grange
Please note course fees do not include garden entrance
and transport
Register your place now by clicking the button below.
European Gardens
Thursday mornings 10.30-12.30
A ten-week course which will introduce the gardens of France, Russia and Germany. We begin with French gardens and Marie de Médicis continuing through to the Parisian schemes of George-Eugène Haussmann and the city parks of Edouard André. After half-term we will investigate Catherine the Great, Prince Pückler-Muskau and the Potsdam landscapes. The term includes a garden visit.
Twentieth Century Gardens
Thursday afternoons at 1.30-3.30pm.
A ten-week course which will include such varied subjects as The Wild Garden, Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens, the Italian Revival, the Country House Ladies, the English Garden Abroad and the Festival of Britain. The course will conclude with a garden visit.
We look forward to welcoming you to Burgh House.
Both courses cost £200.00 each, per ten week term.
2015
European Gardens - Holland & Spain
Thursday mornings 10.30-12.30
The themes and topics we will cover include:
Tulip mania – diplomacy, horticulture & botany
Honserlaardijk, Zorgvliet & Het Loo
Dutch Moderninsm, Piet Oudolf & The New Wave
Landscape, Gardens & Painting, Islamic Gardens of Spain
Discoveries of the Conquistadors, The Hapsburgs & The Bourbons
An introduction to Garden History
From the Picturesque controversy to
Rothchild-shire
Thursday afternoons 1.30-3.30 pm
This term will track the development of gardens from around 1800 to 1900 and will include:
Landscape in literature including the Gothic Novel with works of Horace Walpole, William Beckford, Thomas Love Peacock, Jane Austen & Tom Stoppard.
Rothschild-shire
William Morris and the Industrial Revoltion
Public Parks and the Landscape of Death
From the Wild Garden to the Festival of Britain.
10.30-12.30 pm
This eleven week term will track the development of gardens from around 1900 to 1950. The diverse themes and topics we will cover include: The Wild Garden, the Country House Ladies, the English Garden Abroad and will conclude with the Festival of Britain.
The Gardens of Louis XIV to the Picturesque.
1.30-3.30 pm
Covering the period of design from the era of the great French gardens of Le Nôtre to the Picturesque gardens of the nineteenth century. Topics will include Louis XIV as Apollo, horticulture, plant collections and Dutch flower paintings.
The summer presents the opportunity to visit special historic gardens and houses within London and the Home Counties. We look forward to welcoming you to Burgh House.
All images taken on last years trips
2014
From the Medieval to the Picturesque
Term 1
Will track the development of gardens from the medieval era to the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. Some examples of the diverse themes and subjects to be investigated are:
• Religious and political symbolism of Elizabeth 1st
• The lost gardens of Nonsuch, Wimbledon and Whitehall
• The Renaissance in Italy and France
• Grottoes, automata, fountains and statuary
Term 2
11 weeks including a site visit
Will cover the period of design from the era of the great
French gardens of Le Notre to the Picturesque gardens
of the nineteenth century.
During this term topics will include:
• Louis XIV as Apollo
• Horticulture, plant collections and Dutch flower paintings
• The South Sea Bubble
• Hogarth’s Line of Beauty
The summer presents the opportunity to visit special
historic gardens and houses within London and the
Home Counties
From the Picturesque to the Landscape of Death
This eleven week term will track the development of gardens from around 1800 to 1900. The diverse themes and topics we will cover include:
• The Picturesque Controversy
• The Gothic Novel and William Beckford
• Landscape in literature examining the work of authors such
as Thomas Love Peacock, Jane Austen and Tom Stoppard
• Victorian eclecticism – Dutch, French, Egyptian, Swiss,
Chinese, Spanish and the Italian garden via South America
revisited!
• Rothschild-shire
• William Morris and the Industrial Revolution
• Public Parks, Temperance and the Landscape of Death
This term includes a garden site visit
Term 2 which commences in January 2015 is a further eleven weeks which students will have the opportunity to sign up for later this year and it will include such varied topics as:
The Wild Garden, the Country House Ladies, the English Garden Abroad and will conclude with the Festival of Britain.