This five week online course from the Gardens Trust will be suitable for anyone curious about gardens and their stories – whether absolute beginners or those with some garden history knowledge. Running from April 14 – May 14, the course aims to help participants recognize important eras, themes and styles in mainly British garden history from the earliest times to today, grasp something of the social, economic, political and international contexts in which gardens have been created and find greater pleasure in visiting historic gardens. You can sign up for whole series or dip into individual talks. There will be opportunities to discuss issues with speakers after each talk, and short reading lists for further exploration.
Week One on April 16 is Elizabethan Gardens with Jill Francis. From the magnificent gardens of the Queen’s Royal palaces to the fabulous show gardens of her courtiers which acted as a backdrop to elaborate entertainments, to the creation of the gardens of the gentry, to the productive plots of land that would have surrounded all but the smallest of dwellings, Elizabethan gardens were characterized by symmetry, proportion and harmony, in tune with the relative peace and prosperity of the age. This talk will explore a range of gardens right across the social spectrum, looking at how they were created, how they were used and how they reflected the social status of their owners.
Jill Francis is an early modern historian, specializing in gardens and gardening in the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries. She was awarded her PhD in 2011 by the University of Birmingham where she teaches as a visiting lecturer for both the Centre for Midlands History and Cultures and contributes to the Winterbourne House and Gardens program of activities. She is an occasional lecturer in a variety of Garden History fora and is now specifically involved with delivering the online program for the Gardens Trust. She also works at the Shakespeare Institute Library in Stratford-upon-Avon. Her book, Gardens and Gardening in Early Modern England and Wales, was published by Yale University Press in June 2018.
For tickets, visit www.eventbrite.co.uk Ticket holders can join each session live or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25) Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.
