Gift Membership
Are you looking for a slightly different birthday or Christmas present for someone?
Why not give a year’s subscription to the Somerset Gardens Trust? We hope that having enjoyed their membership of SGT, your family/friends will decide to continue as members.
If you are interested, please download our Gift Membership form.
Neighbouring Events
KNOLL GARDENS LECTURE AND VISIT
Wednesday 1st October 2008
10.30a.m. - Durweston Village Hall DT11 0QA (10.30 a.m. coffee - Lecture starts at 11 a.m. )
“Knoll Gardens, a Modern Nursery: from plant hunting to Chelsea” by Neil Lucas
Neil Lucas’ nursery at Knoll Gardens has recently won its 7th consecutive gold medal at Chelsea - quite an achievement as the grasses it specialises in are at their best in late summer and autumn. Neil travels extensively, especially the USA, in search of interesting grasses and other plants and exciting ways of using them in changing gardening styles. This new lecture will cover his latest discoveries.
2.00pm visit Knoll Gardens, Hampreston, Wimborne BH21 7ND
We regroup at Knoll Gardens where Neil will give a short introductory talk We are then free to see the 4 acre garden which demonstrates how grasses can work with other plants in a real garden context. The adjoining nursery is one of the country’s leading grass specialists but also has other plants. National collections of Ceonothus and Phygelius are held at Knoll.
Cost £10 for the day or £6 for the lecture only
Apply to:
Mrs Juliet Bloxam, Spindles, Water Lane, Durweston, Blandford Forum, Dorset DT11 0QB
Tel: 01258 455626
DEVON GARDENS TRUST
Autumn Lecture at Lakeside, Roadford Reservoir, Lewdown, EX20 4QS
(between Okehampton and Launceston)
Saturday October 11th, 2008 from 2.00 - 5.00 pm
Title ”National Trust Gardens in Devon and Cornwall - rooted in history, growing for ever”
Speaker Jeremy Pearson - National Trust Curator for Devon & Cornwall historic properties
Cost Members £5.00 Non-members £6.00
For more information or to make a booking log on to the Devons Garden Trust website
THE GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY
“FRUIT IN HISTORIC GARDENS”
In association with Historic Royal Palaces
Saturday 15 November 2008
9.30 - 4.30
The Garden Room, Hampton Court Palace
Speakers
Mark Bradshaw, Lyveden New Bield
Susan Campbell, Walled Kitchen Garden Network
Giorgio Galletti, Historic Garden Consultant, Florence
Joan Morgan, Pomologist and fruit historian
Sandra Nicholson, Writtle College
Neil Porteous, Ballynatray Estate, Ireland
Tickets, to include coffee, lunch and tea:
£49 or £38* (*first 10 full-time students to apply)
For further information please contact the Garden History Society, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ - telephone: 020 7608 2409
Links
Other websites that may be of interest are listed below:
County Gardens Trusts
Avon
Buckinghamshire
Cambridgeshire
Cheshire
Cornwall
Devon
Dorset
Gloucestershire
Hampshire
Kent
Lincolnshire
London
Norfolk
Northamptonshire
Surrey
Sussex
Welsh Historic Gardens Trust
Local Organisations
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance Service
Friends of Quantock
Somerset Building Preservation Trust
The Old Deanery Garden, Wells
National Organisations
BTCV (British Trust for Conservation Volunteers)
Country Gardener
Folly Fellowship
Forestry Commission
Garden History Society
Georgian Group
Garden Organic (Henry Doubleday Research Association)
Hardy Plant Society
Historic Houses Association
Institute for Garden & Landscape History
Lutyens Trust
Museum of Garden History
National Botanic Garden of Wales
National Council for the Conservation of Plants & Gardens (NCCPG)
National Gardens Scheme
National Trust
Natural England
James Pulham & Son
Royal Horticultural Society
Tree Register of the British Isles
UK Database of Historic Parks & Gardens
The Somerset Gardens Trust does not necessarily endorse the websites listed here, nor imply any association with them.
A History of the Trust
In the summer of 1990 Lady (Elizabeth) Gass, now Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, with the support of Ken Brown (a senior planning officer with Somerset County Council) and Stephen Pugsley (who was for many years the Chairman of the Exmoor National Park Committee) convened a meeting of those known to have a particular interest in recording and protecting historic gardens and parks, with the objective of forming a Trust that would be primarily concerned with furthering those aims. Other counties had already done so and currently 34 of the English counties have a Gardens Trust and they, together with the associated branches of the Welsh Gardens Trust, have a combined membership of 7500. The meeting was well attended and the proposed formation of a Trust attracted wide support. In due course, and with the active help of the County Council, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of David Tudway Quilter, with Sylvia Ray (Lady Gass’s sister) as Honorary Secretary. By the time of the first AGM in 1991 there were 150 members of the Somerset Gardens Trust; there are now 244.
The Trust is a charitable organisation and its key objective is to keep before the public matters connected with garden landscapes, and to preserve, enhance and re-create for the education and enjoyment of the public whatever garden landscapes may exist or have existed in their various counties. Although each of the Trusts is independent, there is an umbrella organisation - The Association of Gardens Trusts - based in London, which represents them at national level to Government, English Heritage, The National Trust and many other organisations involved with the national heritage of parks and gardens and the environment.
The Trust has three sub-committees; one concentrates on the surveying of properties throughout the county, another organises events and publicity and a third works with schools and other educational establishments. The Survey sub-committee compiles a list of gardens of interest and importance and surveys them (with their owners’ agreement) depositing the surveys in the County Record Office. So far 44 surveys have been completed, 5 are nearing completion and surveys have started at 6 others. Having selected a site, members of the sub-committee then approach the owners; visit the garden to record all its features, any artefacts and important and unusual trees. They follow up their visits by conducting research into the history of the site at the Local History Library and the County Record Office, both of which are in Taunton and, when necessary at The National Monuments Record Centre in Swindon, The British Library and the Public Record Office. The gardens surveyed so far range from Alfoxton Park, with its associations with Wordsworth and Coleridge, to East Lambrook Manor of Margery Fish fame, Wayford Manor near Crewkerne, a Harold Peto garden, and Crowcombe Court, a garden that must at one time have been as magical as the 18th century garden at Hestercombe that is currently being restored by Philip White.
The Events and Publicity sub-committee organises visits to such gardens as Highgrove, courtesy of HRH The Prince of Wales, Iford Manor (designed by Harold Peto and beautifully restored), Cothay Manor, the magical garden created by Mr and Mrs Robb, The Laskett, that astonishing and individual garden created by Sir Roy Strong and his late wife Julia Trevelyan Oman in Herefordshire and Tregerhan with its wide range of trees and shrubs. Members can also join foreign tours of gardens in other countries not normally open to the public and in recent years have been to Holland, Ireland, Normandy and Germany. They can also enjoy lectures on such diverse topics as the gardens at Hadspen House, plant hunting in Tibet, the dovecotes of Somerset and the gardens of Italy.
The Education Group was formed in 2005 and offers support to schools undertaking garden projects. This support takes the form of visits to schools, grants of money (up to £350 per school) and advice leaflets covering a wide range of topics. In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on outdoor education and healthy eating in the school curriculum. Initiatives like Forest School, the Healthy Schools Awards, the Year of Food and Farming (2007/8) and much media interest in school meals reinforce this. Many schools are now involved in developing garden and wildlife areas and many run garden clubs. Children are thus becoming increasingly aware of the environment, the growing of plants for food and pleasure, the sensory impact of plants and how they support wildlife.
As the work of the Education Group has become better known, the Trust has been able to help increasing numbers of schools, with the pupils’ ages ranging from infant, through primary, to teenage and has made grants in support of projects ranging from the creation of a scented area to the construction of raised beds for growing vegetables; refurbishing an unused area to providing dyeing ingredients for Textiles Technology; and helping a school for teenage children with behavioural problems to buy gardening tools and basic equipment for use in a nearby rented allotment.
The Trust also offers grants of up to £1000 for projects in Somerset that forward its aims, such as research, surveys, management plans and restoration works, and bursaries of up to the same amount to support horticultural students whose normal residence is in Somerset to help fund training placements and for research into gardens and parks in Somerset. In 2007 the Trust supported a student expedition to Peru for the study of medicinal plants, and in 2008 helped a group of students travel to Holland for a botanical tour.
The Trust publishes a newsletter three times a year, giving details of its activities and including articles of general interest.
(Anthony Pugh-Thomas, Chairman - April 2008)
Join Us
If you would like to become a member of Somerset Gardens Trust, please download our Membership Application Form
Membership Rates are as follows:
Annual (single) - £10.00
Annual (2 adults at same address) - £16.00
Full time student - £2.50
Primary school - £5.00
Secondary school - £10.00
Further Education College - £10.00
Corporate - £30.00
Life (Adult) - £75.00
Life (2 adults at same address) - £100.00
Standing Order - payment by Standing Order reduces our administrative costs. If you would therefore like to pay by Standing Order, please download the Standing Order form and send it off with your membership application form.
Gift Aid - as a Charity, the Trust is able to reclaim income tax on members’ subscriptions. This makes a major difference to our income. Please help us by completing the Gift Aid declaration on the Membership Application Form.
Surveys
The Survey Committee concentrates on the surveying of properties throughout the County. It has listed gardens of interest and importance and has surveyed many of them, with their owners’ agreement, the surveys then being deposited in the County Records Office. It hopes, with the owners’ consents, to pass details of many of these surveys to the national database that is being created at York University.
Members of the Survey Committee first select a site, then approach the owners and visit the garden to record all its features, any artefacts as well as important and unusual trees. They follow up their visits by conducting research into the history of the site at the Local History Library and the County Records Office, both of which are in Taunton and, when necessary at The National Monuments Record Centre at Swindon, The British Library and the Public Record Office.
The gardens surveyed so far range from Alfoxton Park - with its associations with Wordsworth and Coleridge - to East Lambrook Manor of Margery Fish fame, Wayford Manor near Crewkerne, a Harold Peto garden, and Crowcombe Court, a garden that must at one time have been as magical as the 18th Century garden at Hestercombe that is currently being restored by Philip White.
School Projects 2008
Ashcott Primary had begun their garden and were planning to add rabbit-proof fencing, a cold frame and a polytunnel. They have contact with a school in Kenya and will establish a Kenyan keyhole garden.
Cossington Primary had plans for raised beds, planters and water butts. They will grow vegetables for their own home-made soup which they make once a week.
Courtfields School want to create a sensory garden for the disabled children to have as a nice place for break time and lunch time. At the moment they can only access the tarmac playground. The scheme is being promoted by the new deputy head. During activities week, she will get the art students to create pieces of art to fulfil the sight and sound elements and has already lined up and costed everything necessary. The area is a mess at the moment but will look splendid at the end of the work. Her second scheme is to provide an area for bereaved children to plant something that has meaning for them. This will be a long term project to create whatever comes out of the planting, e.g. a woodland, a shrubbery etc.
Merriott First School already have vegetable plots and children were seen working on them during our visit; the whole school is becoming involved. Broadbeans and potatoes were already growing but they need garden tools. The greenhouse was in the process of being erected by two parents and they need to buy staging for it.
Shipham First School will revitalise a corner of the grounds to provide a quiet, sensory garde which can operate as an outside classroom, useful to many areas of the curriculum but also a focus for their Green Club which promotes environmental issues.
Trinity School has a garden club and which has become rather a mess. The application asked for various things to be done - most of which have already been done - but the fruit, herb and raised beds also need the same treatment. The installation of proper containing edges and hard paths would be of real benefit, as they are overgrown with pernicious weeds because the membrane has broken down. Children from the garden club were on hand to show what was wanted as they are quite keen. The work that has been done so far has been well done and has vastly improved things for the teacher who runs the club.
Upton Noble Primary needed a grant to enable them to take their garden club to visit the Eden Project; this would provide encouragement and ideas for re-vamping their school garden.
School Projects 2007
Ansford Secondary in Castle Cary wanted to refurbish an unused area of ground to provide a quiet area, to grow fruits, herbs and vegetables for Food Technology lessons, and to provide dyeing ingredients for Textiles Technology.
Churchstanton Primary planned to provide raised beds in a playground area to give good access to growing areas and to meet the needs of their eco-school status.
Dunster Pre-School has an allotment. This is used for herbs, vegetables, fruit and flowers, some of which are eaten at school, some taken home and some entered in local garden shows. Parents, grandparents and other allotment holders all help and our grant was used for a motor mower and waterproof clothing.
Evercreech Primary planned an hexagonal garden with six raised beds, one per class, surrounding a paved teaching area.
Fiveways Special, who already provide varied garden environments, planned a sensory garden to meet the needs of their increasing numbers of pupils with greater physical and mental needs.
Halcon Primary in Taunton has a pupil action group, the eco-saviours, and needed raised beds and a greenhouse to grow vegetables.
Ilchester Infants had space outside a classroom already successfully used for growing. The classteacher wished to extend this, with the science curriculum in mind, to include weather monitoring equipment, habitats for worms and insects and study materials. Our grant was to provide the equipment, including a small greenhouse and shrubs to demarcate the area.
Long Sutton Primary used a comparatively large area to provide an outdoor classroom and to follow the local tradition of growing fruit trees. They intend to screen the oudoor classroom with shrubs.
Meare Primary’s Garden Club, run by a parent, promotes care of the school grounds and the wider environment, raising awareness of growth and lifecycles and respecting wildlife. They needed tools, raised beds and a polytunnel to extend the season.
Milford Infants in Yeovil planned to further develop their wildlife area, with the help of the children in the Environmental Club. They needed tools and to provide paths and seating.
Nether Stowey Primary runs a garden club and has a project to create a scented area, a willow area and an outdoor learning area.
Othery Primary has a disused area of garden that once belonged to the old school house. It adjoins the playground and could provide an alternative to tarmac at breaktimes. This project was still at an early stage of planning and the member of our Education Group who is a garden planner was able to help them with this. Fencing for safety will be their first expenditure.
Redstart Primary in Chard has established a Forest School which provides outdoor education for all of its pupils and planned to build raised beds for growing fruit and vegetables.
St. Andrew’s Primary in High Ham has a garden club run by a parent and needed to develop the available piece of ground using railway sleepers and the natural slope to create beds for plants for flowers and food.
St. Andrew’s Primary in Taunton, a town school with no field, has taken a corner from the playground and established a green area. Funds were needed to improve this facility by making birdboxes and feeders, by growing plants to enhance other areas of the school, to add to the small pond and to make log seating.
St. Michael’s First in Minehead’s garden club had two projects. They planned to grow flowers and vegetables and to develop a wildlife area, including a pond with resident newts. They needed tools, seeds and a small greenhouse.
The Priory in Taunton is a school for teenage boys with behaviour issues, some of whom are boarding. Excluded from mainstream education, they need a curriculum that engages them. They have rented a nearby allotment and the local allotment association is encouraging and supporting them. Their pressing need was for tools and basic equipment.
Timberscombe First, a small school of just 28 children, had been given a derelict allotment next to the school which they had cleared of rubbish. They now needed secure fencing, better access, raised beds, and plants and shrubs to encourage wildlife.
Wadham Secondary in Crewkerne wished to cultivate the disused garden of what was once the caretaker’s bungalow and is now a learning support unit. This will be used by children with special needs, some of whom may later work in agriculture.
Wells Central Junior have an area of ground used by their farm club. A polytunnel has been built and raised beds will extend gardening activities to every class. Units of Study will link gardening to the curriculum.
Education
The Education Group was formed in 2005 and offers support to schools undertaking garden projects. This support takes the form of visits to schools, grants of money (up to £350 per school) and advice leaflets covering a wide range of topics.
In recent years there has been increasing emphasis on outdoor education and healthy eating in the school curriculum. Initiatives like Forest School, the Healthy Schools Awards, the Year of Food and Farming(2007/8) and much media interest in school meals reinforce this. Many schools are now involved in developing garden and wildlife areas and many run garden clubs. Children are thus becoming increasingly aware of the environment, the growing of plants for food and pleasure, the sensory impact of plants and how they support wildlife.
The Education Group has been able to help increasing numbers of schools (12 in 2006, 20 in 2007 and 7 so far in 2008) and these encompass a wide age range and type of school.
Our Events
Each year the Events Committee organises a programme of visits, talks by specialists on garden history and other garden topics, such as plant hunting and gardening skills - see 2008 Programme.
Members are encouraged to become involved in these activities.
We welcome any suggestions for the 2009 programme, which we will start preparing this summer.
Do come to our events and bring your friends/family. Friends of SGT members pay £1 over the event price, members of the public pay an extra £2 over the event price.
Help with food and wine, chairs etc. at events is always appreciated.
2008 Programme
Remaining Events for 2008
19 November: “William Kent - Architect, Landscape Designer, Opportunist” - a talk by Tim Mowl
7 p.m. Glastonbury Town Hall, Magdalene Street
Cost: £7 - including soup and rolls
Further details from Commander David Freemantle - tel: 01984 667202 or email: hartwoodhouse@hotmail.com
Home
The Somerset Gardens Trust was formed in 1990, one of a growing number of County Trusts affiliated to the Association of Gardens Trusts. It is a voluntary organisation and educational charity working with garden owners, local authorities and the community in order to protect and care for the county’s parks and gardens. It is financed through members’ subscriptions, donations, legacies, grants and fund raising events.
The Somerset Gardens Trust:
- Records historic gardens, parks and green spaces throughout Somerset and advises on their conservation.
- Advises on restoration projects and their funding.
- Supports the protection of parks and gardens from adverse development and road improvement schemes.
- Encourages garden related projects and an appreciation of plants and gardens in schools.
- Organises talks and lectures on garden subjects.
- Arranges visits to gardens not normally open to the public.
- Publishes a regular newsletter.
Click here to read about the History of the Trust
Grants & Bursaries
Grants
The Somerset Gardens Trust offers bursaries of up to £1000 to support horticultural students whose normal residence is in Somerset wherever they may be studying, to help fund training placements and for research into gardens and parks in Somerset and similar activities. Further details from Anthony Pugh-Thomas at pugh.thomas@btinternet.com
The Trust will also make grants of up to £350 to schools for the development of school gardens and to promote the understanding of gardens, gardening and horticulture generally in schools and educational organisations. Further details from Eileen Meiklejohn at demeiklejohn@yahoo.co.uk
Bursaries
The Trust also offers bursaries of up to £1000 to support horticultural students whose normal residence is in Somerset wherever they may be studying, training placements and research into gardens and parks in Somerset and similar activities. For further information apply to Anthony Pugh-Thomas at pugh.thomas@btinternet.com or 01823 412224.
Can You Help?
The Somerset Gardens Trust is a small charity whose members are at the heart of its work. When new members join they frequently complete the “Can You Help?” section of our Membership Brochure and some existing members also do so when renewing their membership. This is enormously helpful as, like all small voluntary charities, we rely on members volunteering to help with our activities, as follows:
- Surveying and recording the history of gardens
- Checking planning applications that may affect Somerset parks, gardens and open spaces
- School and college liaison
- Publicity / public relations
- Fund raising
- Lectures and talks
- Practical gardening projects
- Administrative or clerical assistance
- Computer operations
- Helping to organise events
- Assisting at open days, exhibitions, plant sales
If you would like to help with any of the above or if you have a particular interest, skill or professional involvement in horticulture or landscape design, please either email us at info@somersetgardenstrust.org.uk or write to the Membership Secretary at Harcombes, Trendle Lane, Bicknoller, Taunton TA4 4EG - telephone 01984 656633
Activities
Bursaries & Grants
The Trust offers grants for conservation and similar projects, and bursaries to help with research and academic and practical training connected with Somerset.
Research & Conservation
Although 38 historic parks and gardens in Somerset are currently listed, there are certainly more that should be protected. Under the guidance of an experienced Chairman, a group of volunteers from our Surveys Committee records the County’s historic public and private parks, gardens and garden features. The Trust also offers advice on garden restoration projects and their financing.
Events
Each year the Trust offers members a programme of visits, talks by specialists on garden history and other garden topics such as plant hunting and gardening skills. Members are encouraged to become involved in its activities.
Schools
Encouraging a love of gardens and landscapes in children is an important part of the Trust’s activities. Our Education Group supports the gardening activities of Somerset schools with advice sheets and financial grants. Every school involved is visited and contact is maintained as gardens progress.
Contact Us
To contact the Somerset Gardens Trust, please use the form below or contact:
Mrs Mary ter Braak,
Membership Secretary, Somerset Gardens Trust,
3 Trendle Lane,
Bicknoller,
Taunton,
Somerset TA4 4EG
Tel: 01984 656633
Email: info at somersetgardenstrust dot org dot uk