A strong tradition of health tourism at spa resorts in continental Europe has identified the ‘Kurpark’ and ‘Kurgarten’ (spa parks and spa gardens), as a subtype in garden history, in which the planted environment is an integral part of the visitor experience, an important element of ‘the cure’. Of the many spas in existence at some time in Britain, landscape designed for ‘taking the waters’ has featured in a high proportion of the locations. This series of talks looks at notable examples, identifying the characteristics and influence of their planned landscape.
For visitors to spas, the supposed curative properties of the waters were only part of the spa experience. The facilities and ambience were also vital in choosing where to take ‘the cure’ and although a scenic location was most desirable, designed landscaping had an important part to play. A potential suite of plantings including tree-lined avenues (well walks), embellishment for pump rooms, promenade parks and pleasure gardens were used to support and promote spa visiting. This Gardens Trust talk, second in a series on British Spa Landscapes, summarizes recent research on parks, gardens and avenues directly associated with ‘taking the waters’ in British spa locations, identifying what remains long after medicinal spa visiting has declined to almost zero in this country. Illustrated with selected – and some-times surprising – examples from England, Scotland and Wales, it will also consider the extent to which remaining spa landscapes are acknowledged and portrayed as important aspects of spa heritage.
As modern spas have morphed into facilities offering pampering and relaxation rather than medicinal water treatments, the talk will present the most recently designed spa garden at Carden Park in Cheshire, recognizing a continuity of intent in the creation of green spaces with therapeutic value.
Karen Emery is an educator, having taught in schools, colleges and running a prison education department, as well as working with industry to foster education-business partnerships. As a qualified ITG Tourist Guide since 2013, garden visits are part of her repertoire, which led to an MA in Garden and Landscape History from the University of London in 2021 with a dissertation on designed spa landscape in Britain. Since then, she has become active with the Kent Gardens Trust as researcher and co-ordinator for garden research projects in part of the county. www.kentgardenstrust.org.uk
A ticket is for this individual session costs £5, and you may purchase tickets for other individual sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £20 via the link here. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and again a few hours before the talk. A link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.
