Originally designed as part of the gardens of Sir Stephen Fox in the 1680's, Fox's garden was much admired in his lifetime for the magnificent vista from its terrace through two long walled gardens, for its large greenhouse in which he kept citrus plants and other exotics, and for the fruit trees cultivated in a specially designed walled area.

The estate was sold in 1812 to the 6th Duke of Devonshire, then the owner of Chiswick House next door. Fox’s house was demolished, and a new conservatory was built in part of his garden but the remainder of the walled gardens were retained and survive today as the earliest part of Chiswick House grounds.

Dr Sally Jeffery is an architectural and garden historian. Her interest in Chiswick arose from research on Sir Stephen Fox’s garden, about which she published an article in Garden History in 2004. Sally was historian at the City of London for many years and then helped to set up the Birkbeck (University of London) MA Garden History. She now lectures on the MA Garden and Landscape History at the Institute of Historical Research and is a Trustee of The Gardens Trust.

This event will take place over Zoom, and joining details will be sent out to attendees one hour before the event takes place. We anticipate the talk taking around thirty minutes, and there will be time afterwards for questions.