Recorded Talk: A History of Gardens 2 - Early C17th Plants and Gardens

For those who missed the second series of A History of Gardens, which originally ran in September 2024, this is a chance to access the recordings of four of the talks. Unfortunately, due to contractual obligations we are unable to provide what was originally talk 2.

You can buy a ticket for the whole recorded series, or for any of the individual sessions. The recordings will all be available from 19th July to 31st Aug 2025. You will also receive the short reading list produced for the original run of the series.

A History of Gardens from the Gardens Trust is suitable for anyone curious about gardens and their stories – whether absolute beginners or those with some garden history knowledge. It 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.

We will be offering access to recordings of talks from the subsequent series over the next few months.

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A History of Gardens 2 - 17th-Century 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.

Following on from our opening talks on early gardens, this second series will examine how gardens developed during the 17th century, before the tumultuous impact of the English civil wars on gardens and gardening from the 1640s. The second part of the century saw the rise of extravagant, dramatic styles, now known as baroque gardens and exemplified by the work of André Le Nôtre for the Sun King at Versailles. We will explore these gardens through an analysis of the work of Le Nôtre and his contemporaries in France, and the series will end with a talk scrutinising how the European baroque style played out 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 second series of 4 talks in our History of Gardens 2 Course at £28 via the link here (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21).

Tickets will be released on 19th July and the recordings will be available to view until 31st August 2025. The Zoom links will be in the confirmation email sent directly after booking, if you do not receive that email, please contact us

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Recording 1: EARLY 17th-CENTURY PLANTS AND GARDENS with David Marsh. First in a series of 4 online lecture recordings, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Recording 3: BETWEEN KINGS: GARDENS OF THE MID 17th CENTURY with Jill Francis. Third in a series of 4 online lecture recordings, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Recording 4: THE FRENCH BAROQUE GARDEN with Gabriel Wick. Fourth in a series of 4 online lecture recordings, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

Recording 5: THE BAROQUE IN ENGLAND with David Marsh. Last in a series of 4 online lecture recordings, £8 each or all 4 for £28 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 4 for £21)

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Recording 1: Early 17th-Century Plants and Gardens with David Marsh

“God Almighty first planted a garden; and, indeed, it is the purest of human pleasures.” This is the well-known opening line of Francis Bacon’s essay On Gardens, first published in 1625. It sums up the early 17th century’s growing obsession with plants and horticulture. While Continental designers, engineers and sculptors transformed the structure and style of the English garden, plants began to take centre stage. They became desirable consumer items, eagerly sought out and highly prized as European exploration opened up the world. At the same time the Worshipful Company of Gardeners chartered by James I helped establish horticulture not only as a profession covering garden making, market gardening and the first proper plant nurseries but as an important contributor to the national economy.

Dr David Marsh was awarded his PhD in 2005 for a study of the ‘Gardens and Gardeners of Later-Stuart London’ and has been lecturing and supervising research in Garden History ever since. He is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham and is co-course director for their MA in Garden History. A trustee of the Gardens Trust from 2016-2023, he helped set up and run the Trust’s on-line lecture programme and is the author of a weekly blog about garden history.

Image: Hieronymus Francken the Elder, Courtiers Strolling in a Garden (before 1610), Wikimedia Commons, public domain

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

Wooden Books, the world’s leading Liberal Arts and Sciences pocket series.

From Mazes & Labyrinths to Mathematical Functions, from Mythological Animals to the Miracle of Trees. From Portals, to Proportion, to Poisonous Plants and Poetic Metre & Form. Wooden Books are beautifully illustrated on every page. Learn about Li. Slip into Shadows. Get a grip on the Golden Section. Small books, big ideas.

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