The Gardens at Brantwood: Evolution of John Ruskin's Lakeland Paradise

The Gardens at Brantwood: Evolution of John Ruskin’s Lakeland Paradise A Review by Lisa Dallape Matson “Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty of we only have eyes to see them.” John Ruskin INTRODUCTION When I think of John Ruskin, I automatically think of the art critic who pledged his support to Turner, then to the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and later to Lizzie Siddal. But even I know his writings were broader than just being a Victorian patron of art. He was also a prominent social thinker, a watercolorist, draughtsman and philanthropist. Ruskin was concern about society, education, architecture and literature, poetics and economics. He wrote essays, lectures, travel guides, poetry, manuals, letters, and fairy tales. He often emphasized the interconnections between art and literature, society, and nature. It is this last enduring point on which David Ingram meditates as he describes the gardens in his gem of a new book, The Gardens at Brantwood: Evolution of John Ruskin’s Lakeland Paradise which was published in May 2014 by Pallas Athene & the Ruskin Foundation. Ingram’s book has four purposes. It is: 1)a history of the Ruskin’s Gardens from 1872 (when Ruskin bought Brantwood) to 1924 (Joan Severn’s death), 2) a description of the work done at the Brantwood Gardens from 1988 to 2013, 3) a snapshot of the Gardens in 2012-2013, and 4) a guide for those who hope to visit the gardens while in the Lake District. It is shocking to learn that before this book was written, no guide existed for this group of beautifully laid out gardens which are situated on the eastern shore of Coniston Water. It is a tribute to the author that the small book can do so many things—and does them all well. Also, he is updating W.G. Collingwood’s 1903 writing on the Brantwood Gardens, which is still in print. Ingram, OBE, VMH, FIHort, FRSE is former Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanical Garden Edinburgh, RHS Professor and Master of St. Catherine’s College, Cambridge. Currently Honorary Professor at the Universities of Lancaster and Edinburgh, he brings years of writing about horticulture to this task. Divided into eight chapters, the majority of his book centers on three main gardeners and their particular gardens: John Ruskin; Ruskin’s cousin, Joan Severn; and the present day Head Gardener at Brantwood, Sally Beamish. Ruskin loved gardening since childhood, and as an adult disliked formal nineteenth century gardens preferring water and landscape—natural wild habitats. In his vision…“Brantwood was a living laboratory.” (42) Ingram’s own overview suffices: these Gardens are “exquisite jewel-like garden islands”… “Set in ancient woods” (17). Howard Hull, Director at Brantwood describes the gardens as “magical and life enhancing” with “physical and spiritual sustenance” (8). Ingram summarizes Ruskin’s approach to gardening as principally being concerned with the “study of beauty and science of plants for feeding the mind and body and for education rather than for mere display” (77). Six of Ruskin’s gardens have been brought back to life: Professor’s Garden; Painter’s Glade; Precipice Path; The Pond; Zig-zaggy; and Moreland Garden. There are also an additional Kitchen Garden and the Ice House. In 1870 Ruskin became the Slade Professor of Art at Oxford University (47), hence the name given by his family and friends to his own special garden; Professor’s Garden. The garden, with in the heart of the wood, is approached by a woodland path. The Professor’s garden was renovated in the 1990s. As a working garden, it offered flowers fruits and herbs. The book details the current plants growing in this garden. There is also a full-page chart of the Espalier-trainer apple varieties planted in the Professor’s Garden. Collingwood tells his readers that down the path and over a wooden bridge the visitor would find frequent “hummocks and bosses of rock pushing through the soil…each with its special interest of fern or flower.”(55) Then coming out of the wood the visitor would find Painter’s Glade which was originally intended as a tennis court. The glade is little different today. It is a green cool oasis (55). The Precipice Path is a trail of uneven stone steps which leads to an outcrop. Moses and ferns are there is abundance. The Zig-zaggy provides an upward journey through the seven deadly sins. The book provides the principal plants on the terrace of the Zig-zaggy, in ascending order arranged by sin (pride, envy, avarice, wrath, sloth, gluttony and lust). Joan Severn’s ideas of what gardens should be like were very different from Ruskin’s. Joan did not change Ruskin’s gardens but, instead, created new ones of her own. Ingram reports that Joan was a creative gardener in her own right, but was also influenced by William Robinson. Robinson was a nineteenth century “wild garden maker” (74). Display was everything. Sally Beamish, the head gardener at Brantwood, comments on three of the four gardens created by Severn: The High Walk, Maple Walk and Cornfield Bank, The Lower Gardens, and the Harbour Walk and Daffodil Meadow. Beamish offers, “the strength of form, simplicity of line and exuberance of colour of the High Walk all reflect the character of Joan Severn.”(79). Of the Maple Walk and Cornfield Beamish says, “A modern interpretation of the late Victorian wild garden style in which native and exotic shrubs and plants are combined in a pleasing informal way.” (80). Ingram reiterates that Joan adored vibrant colors and heavenly scents. Of the Harbour Walk and Daffodil Meadow Beamish writes, “Between the azaleas, where the lilacs were, we have planted an unusual selection of herbaceous plants to continue the amazing, blazing splendor… well until the autumn.” (83). It is clear the Joan Severn loved display and added this touch to the Brantwood gardens. Sally Beamish has been restored the Ruskin and Seven gardens at Brantwood as well as planning new gardens. Beamish does all of her work in the spirit of John Ruskin, treating the gardens as a single organism. Ingram writes, “Sally Beamish’s intention is that Brantwood should be a rich and varied garden environment, built on sound organic practices, that is one with its surroundings, as indeed it is” (86). This section offers depth and breadth of information about plants in Beamish gardens. There is a listing of “Plants to be Found in the Rosaceae Bed Near the Car Park Pedestrian Exit;” “Plants Growing in Six Habitat-Themed Troughs at the Top of the Drive Listed in Order From the Top of the Drive;” Espalier Apples Growing Along the Fence of the Café Terrace Listed from the Gate;” “Informal Groups of British Ferns in the Fern Garden;” “Species Listed in Ferns of the English Lake Country by W.J. Linton. In addition to this helpful detail, pages 115-118 contain the chart “Plants to Look Out for at Brantwood Arranged by Garden and Season Complied by Sally Beamish and Ruth Charles.”Ingram enclosed an aerial view map of the gardens with a numbered key. This lush book’s beautiful every-other-page illustrations transport the reader to these gardens. It is highly recommended for John Ruskin collections, and also for gardens and gardening in general. It is an indispensable guide for those planning to visit Brantwood—who should purchase it in advance in order to have time to absorb the gardens’ history, layout, and contents. Finally, The Gardens at Brantwood: Evolution of John Ruskin’s Lakeland Paradise would be a wonderful gift book for anyone who loves plants and gardens. .

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