Wrest Park is well known for its long association with powerful female garden creators from Lady Elizabeth Talbot (1581-1651) and the ‘Good Countess’ Amabel (1607-98), through to the arrival of the Land Army in the walled garden in the 20th century. This May 3 Gardens Trust talk will contrast the lives and contributions of two of the most influential women on the surviving landscape at Wrest: Jemima Marchioness Grey (1723-97) and Amabel Yorke, Countess de Grey (1751-1833). Their cultural influences and economic contexts provide a dramatic contrast from Jemima’s intellectual rurality within the milieu of Chinoiserie and classical understanding, to the harsher economic realities and political backdrop of enclosure and war experienced by Amabel. We will use their letters and diaries to explore one designed landscape through their two very different lives. The live webinar will take place at 5 am Eastern time, but a recording link is sent the same day to enjoy over the following week at your convenience. £5 through Eventbrite by linking HERE.
Twigs Way is a garden historian, writer and researcher. Twigs’ talks and books reflect themes of symbolism and meaning, class and gender, art and literature, and her desire to follow unknown paths towards the unexpected. Twigs has a specific interest in the roles of women in and out of the garden, which was the topic of her first book and a particular interest in the women of Wrest Park. Twigs is an accredited Arts Society lecturer and her history of the Chrysanthemum in art and culture was published by Reaktion in 2020. She is currently (not quite) working on the equally golden daffodil.
