The Gardens Trust’s final series of A History of Gardens will consider developments of the recent past. Starting with the arrival of the sleek, functional style of Modernism after the first world war, the talks will move on to explore contemporary thinking on the challenges of conserving and restoring historic parks and gardens, the rise of ecological perennial planting, the reappearance of allusive gardens and how a garden’s ‘spirit of place’ can guide sustainable plans for the future.

Themes and exemplars in garden-making are more difficult to identify without the benefit of distance and time. But considering recent ideas and approaches is bound to bring a thought-provoking end to our History of Gardens. This ticket link is for the sixth series of 5 talks in our History of Gardens Course at £35 or you may purchase a ticket for individual talks, costing £8 via the links on the website. (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25). Ticket holders can join each session live and/or view a recording for up to 2 weeks afterwards. Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk.

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.

Week 2 on May 6 is The Conservation and “Restoration” of Historic Parks and Gardens in the Late Twentieth Century and Earliest 21st Century, a Personal View with John Watkins. In the last few decades, we have seen a renaissance for historic parks and gardens in the UK. The initial stimulus was arguably the Great Storm of 1987. It caused catastrophic damage, with an estimated 15 million trees flattened. But as Historic England later reported, for designed landscapes ‘the alarming destruction was often outweighed by the opportunities for renewal’ as a multimillion-pound landscape rehabilitation program led to turbocharged research and subsequent replanting and restoration. A second factor has been the establishment of the National Lottery in 1994, since when £2.1 billion has been awarded to projects supporting landscapes, parks and nature. A third factor in the renaissance has been a generally buoyant economy with more homeowners becoming interested in gardens and a growing garden tourist economy.

The lecture will provide a personal view highlighting selected ‘restoration’ projects over the last 40 years that have both conserved and rejuvenated many historic gardens and designed landscapes. John Watkins has led the Gardens and Landscape Team in English Heritage for 27 years and will be retiring in July 2025. He is a professional horticulturist with some 47 years’ experience, awarded the RHS Associate of Honour in 2016. He jointly edited and contributed to the English Heritage Manual: The Management & Maintenance of Historic Parks, Gardens & Landscapes (Frances Lincoln, 2007). His experience of high-profile restoration projects includes Chiswick House and Gardens, Down House, Eltham Palace, Wrest Park, Witley Court, Kenilworth Castle, Boscobel House, Audley End Kitchen Garden and Mount Grace Priory. He has recently completed major projects at Marble Hill in London, Belsay Hall in Northumberland. In April 2025 he was appointed as Chair of the Gardens Trust.