Autumn 2018 MagazineThe No.26 norfolkgt.org.uk 1 Contents Chairman’s Report ................................................................................1 Alicia Amherst - The Well-Connected Gardener - Sue Minter ............2 An Amateur’s Garden - Jan Michalak ...................................................6 Renovating Horsford Hall Greenhouse - David Pulling & Paul Clarke .......................................................................................10 Reviving the Medlar, our forgotten fruit - Jane Steward .......................14 Restoring a Twenties Gem - Alison Hall ...............................................18 Our Roundup of Repton 200 - Sally Bate .............................................22 Repton: The Prophet in his own Country - Margaret Anderson ..........24 NGT at the Museum – the Repton Sketches go Public - Sally Bate ....28 The NGT’s 30th Birthday Party ...........................................................32 Readers’ Garden: The Garden Room - Hingham .................................34 Book Reviews .........................................................................................35 Sally Bate Honoured ..............................................................................37 Obituary - Martin Walton .....................................................................38 Dates for Your Diary ..............................................................................39 Membership Matters ..............................................................................40 Cover: Reader’s Garden See page 34 Back cover: Litcham Hall - visited in June Welcome Chairman’s Report - Spring 2018 What a summer! Day after day of hot rainless fortunate to be able to hold this here due to the weather with most plants struggling from exceptional kindness of the owners, Paul Doyle thirst. But we had a rest from grass cutting. and Gergely Battha-Pajor. It was a perfect Some of us, as a result of global warming, will English summer’s evening and the party was be turning to the advice of Beth Chatto who marvellously arranged by Carol Keene. sadly died in May. Her advice for planting in Since the start of the year we have recruited arid conditions will stand the test of time over 100 new members, bringing our total This summer has also been a remarkably to over 620, making us, possibly, the largest busy one for our Trust. Firstly, we published County Gardens Trust in terms of the number in May our book entitled ‘Humphry Repton of members in England. This is hugely in Norfolk’. This mimicked Repton’s Red encouraging. I hope all our members, including Books in design and brought to fruition our new ones, value their membership. From a great deal of hard work by our research time to time vacancies occur on the Committee team. The resulting hard-back book, which which we highlight in this Magazine. As you has 305 illustrations (some of which have will see our Treasurer Peter Woodrow wishes not been shown before), was superbly edited to retire – so, if there is anyone out there who by Sally Bate, Rachel Savage and Professor is interested in taking on this role please do Tom Williamson. Since the book launch at contact me. I think Peter would say it does not Aylsham Church, just yards from Repton’s require a detailed knowledge of accountancy final resting place, the first edition of a but just common sense and a tidy mind. thousand copies is selling fast! You will have noticed we now call this At the beginning of July we organised a publication The Magazine. The old title did national conference in north Norfolk, again not reflect all that goes into it. As always, the on the theme of Repton, entitled ‘The Editors, Clive Lloyd and Sue Roe are looking Prophet in His Own Country’. The sixty or for suggestions for articles to be included in so delegates from The Gardens Trust and future editions fourteen different County Gardens Trusts, I am thrilled to report that our Vice Chairman ranging from Warwickshire to Cornwall, Sally Bate was awarded The Volunteer of the had the opportunity to visit houses not Year Award 2018 by the Gardens Trust, the usually open to the public. The viewing of national body representing all 36 County Red Books was a particular highlight. We are Gardens Trusts in England. This was most truly grateful to the owners of these houses justly deserved. for giving us such a privileged opportunity to Finally you may have read in the Eastern Daily seeing Repton’s work at close quarters. Our Press that the cottage belonging to our very particular thanks go to Karen Moore who talented Designer, Karen Roseberry, organised it all with her usual immaculate was almost destroyed in a fire this efficiency. summer. This was a truly horrid And, if that was not enough, in July we thing to have happened so we all held a party for some 150 members and send her our very best wishes for a guests at Sheringham Hall to celebrate the phoenix-like rebuilding. 30th Anniversary of the establishment of Matthew Martin the Norfolk Gardens Trust. We were most 1 NorfolkGarden GardensHistory History Alicia Amherst – The Well-Connected Gardener By Sue Minter Alicia Amherst (1865-1941) is relatively little-known in garden history although she wrote the first ‘History of Gardening in England’ (1895) produced almost entirely from original sources. This is because her archive has been locked away at the Chelsea Physic Garden in London, where she was a member of the Management Council, having saved the garden from closure at the end of the nineteenth century. As a past Curator of that Garden I have been fortunate to have been granted access to them, as well as in having the support of her family in producing a first biography. She was an extraordinary woman. Born into great wealth as one of Alicia Amherst portrayed in oils by her daughter Maud seven daughters of Lord Amherst of Hackney, she was brought up on the Carter, a skilled young draughtsman vast family estate at Didlington Hall, from Swaffham, whom her father had near Swaffham in Norfolk where she engaged to record their archaeological created a splendid garden. Within their collections by making sketches, and who Italianate mansion lay a museum and was later to produce watercolours for one of the finest libraries in England her ‘History’. Of course, we now know reflecting her father’s fascination with Carter from his discovery in 1922 of the history of writing and printing back Tutankhamun’s tomb – a discovery that to Mesopotamia and the interests of was made possible financially by Carter both parent’s interests in Egyptology. It acting for the Amhersts (among others) was these interests that led to Alicia’s in trading antiquities and acquiring a introduction to the archaeologist Percy certain amount of private wealth when Newberry (also in early life a garden Lord Caernarvon initially demurred historian) who encouraged her to write about making further financing available. the ‘History’, which was originally The Amhersts suffered a disastrous fraud conceived as a series of articles for perpetrated by their investment manager ‘The Gardener’s Chronicle’. Also Charles Cheston which was discovered in through her parents she met Howard 1906. Quite a scandal. 2 Garden History Alicia’s home Lychett Heath in Dorset, her own watercolour Alicia made a very ‘political’ marriage into the Cecil family by marrying Evelyn Cecil in 1895, a nephew and Assistant Private Secretary to the Prime Minister Lord Salisbury. With him she travelled widely: to South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, often by railway since he was a director and investor in the railway boom; they also attended international conferences during this age of rail expansion. These travels also reflected (and confirmed) their own interests in the British Empire, in emigration (especially for women, which Alicia supported as a way of women finding livelihoods), in botany and – for Alicia – in watercolour painting. Indeed, Alicia’s fourth book was grandly entitled, ‘Wildflowers of the Great Dominions of the British Didlington Hall near Swaffham Alicia’s childhood home now Empire’(1935) published with her own demolished though Didlington Nurseries occupies the one-time watercolours as a field guide for the kitchen garden (An aerial view). botanical traveller – a first of its kind. 3 NorfolkGarden GardensHistory History extend to supporting women’s suffrage, a move she actively opposed by writing for the National League for Opposing Women Suffrage, mainly because she had a strong sense of gender roles and believed that women best served national interests at the level of municipal politics and charitable support. Alicia also wrote the first book on ‘London Gardens’ in 1907. The library at Didlington Hall, the contents of which were sold following a disastrous I have subtitled my book swindle by the Amherst’s investment manager. ‘The Well-Connected Gardener’ because I Alicia had three children, two girls believe her social connections gave her and a boy, and in 1903 wrote a book an enormous entrée into the world on children’s gardens, five years before of grand garden owners and their Gertrude Jekyll. She also created a fine archives. She was a personal friend of garden at Lytchett Heath in Dorset that the horticulturalist Ellen Willmott, for was trendsetting for her interests in example, and there is an interesting tender plants and ‘green gardens’ and connection with the young Gertrude was profiled in the Royal Horticultural Bell who was a volunteer for Alicia on Society’s ‘The Garden’ magazine