Somerset Gardens Trust

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. 

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)