History of Gardens 1 - Medieval Gardens

This online course from the Gardens Trust will be suitable for anyone curious about gardens and their stories – whether absolute beginners or those with some garden history knowledge. Running from April 2024 to April 2025, the course aims to help participants recognise important eras, themes and styles in mainly British garden history from the earliest times to today, grasp something of the social, economic, political and international contexts in which gardens have been created and find greater pleasure in visiting historic gardens. You can sign up for whole series or dip into individual talks. There will be opportunities to discuss issues with speakers after each talk, and short reading lists for further exploration.

HISTORY OF GARDENS Part 1: EARLY GARDENS

What is a garden? Why were they created as they were? What influences were at play in garden making, and how have gardens evolved and developed over time? These are the questions we will explore as we traverse the history of gardens through the ages, beginning with a series of five talks on Early Gardens. The opening session will look at the glory of the Elizabethan garden, from gardens fit for a queen to the more modest plots of the sixteenth-century garden owner. Talks in the following weeks will go back in time to explore the magnificent gardens of ancient Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome; the splendours of Islamic gardens and Italian Renaissance gardens; the quiet beauty of the medieval garden, seeking to understand how and why they were made, and to trace their influence on later designs, particularly in England.

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This ticket is for this individual talk and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions via the links below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire [first] series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Ticket holders can join each session live or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards.

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the talk.

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us). A link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks .

Due to a recent Apple decision to charge a 30% fee for paid online events unfortunately you may no longer be able to purchase this ticket from the Eventbrite iOS app. Please use a web browser on desktop or mobile to purchase or follow the link here.

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Week 1. 16th April: ELIZABETHAN GARDENS with Jill Francis. First in a series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 2. 23rd April: FIRST GARDENS with Katie Campbell. Second in a series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 3. 30th April: MEDIEVAL GARDENS with Katie Campbell. Third in a series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 4. 7th May. EARLY MUGHAL GARDENS with Ratish Nanda. Fourth in a series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 5. 14th May. ITALIAN RENAISSANCE GARDENS with Deborah Trentham. Last in a series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

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Week 3. 30th April: MEDIEVAL GARDENS with Katie Campbell

Little archaeological evidence remains of the gardens created between the fall of the Roman empire and the rise of the Renaissance a millennium later; luckily, illustrated prayer books and calendars from the period provide lush and detailed images which can teach us much about the medieval garden. While utilitarian plots of the peasantry focussed on root vegetables and cereals, religious institutions like the ninth century St Gall monastery provided medicinal herbs and flowers for the altar as well as food for paupers and pilgrims. Meanwhile royals cavorted in pleasure grounds like those at Woodstock where Henry II wooed his mistress amid elaborate labyrinths and water gardens. This talk will explore the range and evolution of the medieval garden.

Katie Campbell is a writer and garden historian. She lectures widely, has taught at Birkbeck, Bristol and Buckingham universities; she writes for various publications, and leads art and garden tours. Her most recent book, Cultivating the Renaissance (Routledge, 2021) , explores the evolution of Renaissance ideas and aesthetics through the Medici Tuscan villas. Her previous book, British Gardens in Time (Quarto, 2014), accompanied the BBC television series. Earlier works include Paradise of Exiles (Francis Lincoln, 2009), looking at the late nineteenth century Anglo-American garden-makers in Florence, Icons of Twentieth Century Landscape Design (Frances Lincoln, 2006) and Policies and Pleasaunces (Barn Elms, 2007), a Guide to Scotland’s Gardens.

Image: From Pietro de Crescenzi, Livre des prouffitz champestres et ruraulx (1230-1320?), Bibliothèque nationale de France. Public domain

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We’re grateful to Wooden Books, sponsor of the first three series of A History of Gardens.

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