Books Reviews

The Gardens of English Heritage – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Jan 10, 2011, 16:16 GMT

The magnificent parks and gardens owned by English Heritage are far less well known than its evocative medieval abbeys or Victorian mansions. Yet these remarkable places offer a fantastic variety of outdoor pleasures. Some have stunning designs, while others are important for their history or their plants. A surprising number are brand new, and a few of the best are tiny. All are marvelously atmospheric testaments to the art of ...more

Superb photography characterizes this study of the magnificent parks and gardens owned by English Heritage.  It is a book that will be treasured by gardeners and historians alike. The range of gardens within the care of English Heritage is enormous.

There are the well-known locations such as Queen Victoria's gardens at Osborne complete with vegetable plots for the royal children, to the rolling parkland around Kenwood House. There are also the lesser known sites such as the stunning Quarry Garden at Belsay Hall and the stunning cascade at Chiswick House.
 
Each set of photographs is accompanied by text telling the story of how each garden was created, the eccentric families who owned them and how the gardens have since been restored from decay. 

It is full of fascinating detail such as the way in which the Elizabethan garden at Kenilworth has been recreated based on letters from the period. 

Questions remain unanswered in some gardens - just what type of garden existed at Ashby de la Zouche where unusual colored stones have been found? Was it part of an emblematic garden?