Starting with the iconic Globe Theater along the south bank of the River Thames, The Royal Oak Society trip on September 24 – October 4 will trace William Shakespeare’s journey back to his beginnings in pretty Stratford-upon-Avon, exploring significant time capsules such as his fascinating birthplace and Anne Hathaway’s idyllic cottage, learning how his wide-reaching influence is still felt over four centuries later. Continuing to the nearby Cotswolds, we discover how its medieval heritage, rolling countryside, ancient woodland, bubbling rivers and fairy tale castles provided the perfect inspiration and setting for the mischief, drama and courtship that the Bard’s plays are so famous for. Combining fiction with historical fact, familial power and beautiful landscapes, our memorable tour is complete with an introduction to the Welsh Marches, a region once dominated by conflict, where spectacular gems such as the Victorian Eastnor Castle and the primarily Tudor Hellens Manor await. $7,450 per person. To learn more visit https://www.royal-oak.org/britain-tours/shakespeare/ or call 212-480-2889, ext 203.
Anne Hathaway’s (William Shakespeare’s wife) famous thatched cottage and garden at Shottery, just outside Stratford upon Avon, England.
With sleepy villages dotted throughout rolling hills, honey-hued buildings embellished with fairy lights, roaring fires in cozy pubs and sparkling trees adorning picture-perfect towns, the Cotswolds is a magical place to spend the run-up to the holidays. The Royal Oak Foundation’s memorable tour on December 1 – 7 meanders through a stunning cluster of Cotswolds favorites to the southern tip of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the UNESCO World Heritage city of Bath, where the delightful Christmas Market and twinkling Georgian streets await.
We also weave our way across the lovely landscapes of another AONB, the Chilterns, to explore the stunning Tudor mansion of Grey’s Court and château inspired Waddesdon Manor, both sumptuously dressed for a classic country house Christmas. We enjoy plenty more seasonal delights, from the enchanting illuminations trail at Kew Gardens to a Victorian-style carol singing performance in celebration of enduring yuletide traditions. $4,995 per person. For complete information visit https://www.royal-oak.org/britain-tours-2024/christmastime/
The Cotswold hills with their mellow stone cottages, elegant manor houses and imposing castles contain some of the most important historic gardens in England. A virtual history of English gardens can be found in Gloucestershire, parts of Oxfordshire, and Warwickshire. Although little survives of the Roman and medieval periods, some very early gardens remain: Thornbury Castle and Horton Court are two remarkable early 16th century gardens. From the 17th century, the restored gardens at Westbury Court are well known, while ghosts of the late 17th-century gardens at Dyrham Park are more challenging to discover.
The 18th century is represented in the poetic garden at Rousham, William Kent’s best surviving landscape, as well as in Capability Brown’s most famous garden at Blenheim Palace. Quirkier examples of the English landscape are found at Painswick and Sezincote.
Modern gardens, too, are impressive: the Arts and Crafts garden at Snowshill and especially Major Lawrence Johnston’s Hidcote Manor, which became a model for so many later garden designs. This lecture covers the history of the English garden, using both famous and little-known gardens, all set in the most unspoiled part of England.
Presenter Paula Henderson has degrees in art history (University of Chicago, M.A.) and Ph.D. in architectural history from the Courtauld Institute of Art (University of London). She lectures widely in Britain (where she lived for 43 years) and the United States and has published over seventy articles on English Houses and their settings. Her first book, The Tudor House and Garden: Architecture and Landscape in the 16th and 17th Centuries (published by Yale University Press), won the Berger Prize for the outstanding contribution to the history of British art 2005. Treehouses (co-authored with Adam Mornement) was published by Francis Lincoln, also in 2005. She is currently completing books on London gardens in the age of Shakespeare and on the Landscape as Art.
She taught courses for the Courtauld Institute of Art Institute for many years and, most recently for the V&A museum. She has lectures for the Paul Mellon Center for British Art, the Architectural Association, both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Birkbeck college, Christie’s Education, The Inchbald School of Design, the V&A museum, the Tate Gallery, The Garden History Society, Sir John Soane’s Museum, Sotheby’s Educational Studies and many others. She led tours for the Courtauld Institute to Florence (‘Gardens of the Medici’) Debyshire (‘Elizabethan architecture’) and the Cotswolds (‘Gardens of the Cotswolds’). While living in England, she also traveled to the United States to lecture for the Society of Architectural Historians, The Garden Club of America, The Royal Oak Foundation, and the Williamsburg Institute. She is a Fellow of Society of Antiquaries of London and now splits her time between Nantucket, MA and Williamsburg, VA.
This Royal Oak Foundation presentation is $40 for the live event at the General Society Library, 20 W. 44th Street in NYC, with reception following, $30 for the rental, and you may register for the Virtual option HERE or the live option, including reception, HERE
Alice de Rothschild (1847 – 1922) was a member of the immensely rich European banking family of that name. Brought up on the continent, she developed Eythrope, the Buckinghamshire estate adjacent to her brother Ferdinand’s Waddesdon Manor, as ‘a showpiece’ garden. She also had a large property in Grasse, on the French Riviera, where she laid out a garden amongst the olive groves, adapting the paths specially to accommodate Queen Victoria’s donkey carriage on the latter’s various outings.
After her brother’s death Alice inherited the Waddesdon Estate, running all three properties with ‘an unusually strong power of will and inflexibility of purpose […], looking after every detail of her estate, undeterred by any opposition that she might meet with’. This is borne out by a unique series of letters, sent from Grasse back to her head gardener at Waddesdon, which contain detailed instructions for the garden.
Still adhering to the original High Victorian bedding schemes of the late 19th-century, Alice de Rothschild also developed a close friendship with Ellen A Willmott who advocated the much more informal style of gardening of William Robinson. 2022 is the centenary of Alice de Rothschild’s death which will be marked by various exhibitions at Waddesdon Manor and at Eythrope.
Dr Sophie Piebenga is the (part-time) gardens’ archivist at Waddesdon Manor, Bucks. Born and brought up in The Netherlands, she has spent all her adult life in the UK, training originally as a gardener with The National Trust and at The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. She diverged into the world of garden history, making the works of the landscape gardener W S Gilpin the topic of her DPhil study at the University of York. Now based in The Cotswolds she divides her time between gardening and giving garden advice, undertaking historic landscape research and leading garden tours for Boxwood Tours.
This Gardens Trust lecture is £5, and you may register through Eventbrite HERE. Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days prior to the start of the talk, and a link to the recorded session (available for 1 week) will be sent shortly afterwards.
Serendipity Traveler’s annual Chelsea Flower Show 2018 tour in England offers women travelers a tapestry of classic Britain. Our 2018 English Garden tour is for women travelers who enjoy all things quintessentially English. You will visit beloved English gardens and The 2018 Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show on member’s opening day. Women travelers who love to garden will be inspired by England’s pastoral beauty, history and the pure pleasure of taking time for tea. Whether yours is a secret garden behind a wall, a wildflower meadow open to the sea or a courtyard plot in the urban landscape, you will be enchanted. Women who love the charming classic British country ways of living will enjoy our trip which embraces English country life and the magnificent landscapes that sweep the English countryside. You will spend your days immersed in the creativity, grandeur, and passion that is gardening in England. Our 2018 women’s garden tour to England on May 20 – 28 will join the Royal Horticultural Society’s members on The 2018 Chelsea Flower Show member’s only days to experience and relish this stellar world renowned gardening event. If you are a keen gardener or just beginning you will enjoy the exquisite beauty in the gardens of England. You will have the chance to savour classic British country living and the history and architecture of London, Bath and The Cotswolds. This trip is designed for women who appreciate the fine art of traveling well and offers you luxe accommodations, fine dining and private touring in a small group. $9495.00 USD private luxe accommodations and all noted inclusions. Single supplements are waived on all Serendipity Traveler private small group tours. All women travelers will savour their own private room on all Serendipity Traveler small group tours without paying additional fees for traveling solo. For the complete itinerary visit http://www.serendipitytraveler.com/destinations/chelsea_flower_show_2018_english_gardens
Please join Peggy Coonley on her annual May visit to England and the Chelsea Flower Show 2011, a tour created for savvy women travelers who appreciate the culture of classic Britain, May 21 – 30, 2011. You will visit notable beloved English gardens and The Royal Horticultural Society’s infamous Chelsea Flower Show on Member’s Only day. The itinerary is thoughtfully arranged to include Sissinghurst in Kent and Hidcote in The Cotswolds, two of the world’s beloved gardens. You will visit The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art at Kew, take a private tour at Wisley, and relish your visit to Scotney Castle (pictured below. ) Women who love to garden will be inspired by England’s pastoral beauty, history and the pure pleasure of taking time for tea. Whether yours is a secret garden behind a wall, a wildflower meadow open to the sea or a courtyard plot in the urban landscape, you will be enchanted. Serendipity Traveler take time to savour classic British country living, the history and diverse landscapes of London, Kent, Bath and The Cotswolds. This trip is for women who appreciate the fine art of traveling well with a small group. For complete details please call Serendipity Traveler’s President, Peggy Coonley in Rockport, Mass. 978 879 7464 or visit www.serendipitytraveler.com
