While today we may think of a wilderness as a wild place unspoiled by human intervention, in the 17th and 18th centuries a garden wilderness referred to a highly cultivated part of the formal garden, a place bounded by trees or tall hedges with paths to walk on and with occasional cultural delights within—statues or fountains or a summer house in the classical style. In its mature form, the wilderness constituted most of the garden and the setting in which all other features were placed. The wilderness was shady and private, a place for solitary retreat as well as social activity, an ‘artinatural’ space in which artifice and culture combined with nature. This illustrated online talk with The Gardens Trust on December 13 examines the history and development of the English garden wilderness and takes a new look at this period of garden history through the perspective of the wilderness garden.
James Bartos is the author of The Ornamental Wilderness in the English Garden (Unicorn, 2022) and has published in the journals Garden History and Die Gartenkunst. From 2015 to 2020 he was the first Chairman of the Gardens Trust, having previously served on the Council of the Garden History Society. He was awarded a PhD in Garden History from Bristol University in 2014. Over the past twenty-five years, he has created a new garden in Dorset.
The talk will be introduced by Peter Hughes KC, the chair of the Gardens Trust.
A recording of the talk will be available to ticket holders to enjoy throughout the Christmas period.
Ticket price £5, Gardens Trust members may use their promo code for an additional 10% discount.
Optional Ticket price £10 to include £5 donation to help us fund our work protecting historic green spaces. To register visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-ornamental-wilderness-in-the-english-garden-tickets-748729880227
Ticket sales close 4 hours before the event. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the talk (If you do not receive this link please contact The Gardens Trust), and a link to the recorded session, available until the end of December, will be sent shortly afterwards.
