1. The Gardens Trust County Gardens Trusts
Before we get stuck in, I just wanted to take a few minutes to talk about County Gardens Trusts and the Gardens Trust – I know some of you are members already, but even for you I hope it will be useful to hear about how we all fit together as pieces of a wider conservation jigsaw. You will hear references to CGTs and the GT all day. In a way it’s a shameless plug, but in a way it’s a necessity because the reality is that CGT volunteers are absolutely at the heart of current conservation and research and recording initiatives, so it would be odd to run today without talking about them.
Historic Landscape Project
Historic Landscape Project

2. + = Research Conserve Campaign
The Gardens Trust was formed in July 2015 from the merger of the Association and Gardens Trusts with the Garden History Society. AGT was umbrella organization for 36 County Gardens Trusts, who had 7500 members between them. GHS was a respected academic body who were statutory consultees in the planning system and published a serious academic journal. So the motivation for merging this grass roots army with an academic national statutory consultee was clear…. Increased power if we speak with one voice!
Historic Landscape Project

3. Historic Landscape Project
Not just gardens – our remit includes parkland, garden squares, public parks, cemeteries, kitchen gardens, playing fields, institutional landscapes, and covers all periods, including modern landscapes. (pics clockwise: Barbican in London; Gulliford Burial Ground in Lympstone, Devon, courtesy of Carolyn Keep DGT; Hill Close Gardens in Warwick, courtesy Jonathan Lovie; Victoria Park, Truro, courtesy Jonathan Lovie; Croome Park in Warwickshire courtesy Steffie Shields)
We also work to promote appreciation and involvement in historic designed landscapes and encourage the creation of new gardens and landscapes. We hold lectures and visits and an annual conference, publish a journal and newsletters, as well as our conservation work, which is carried out by a small staff and lots of volunteers.
Historic Landscape Project

4. Historic Landscape Project
Also very interested in Setting, as you’ll know, that is the landscape around the actual park or garden that provides its backdrop, often very intentionally by design
Lyveden New Bield, Northants – in recent years have all been much preoccupied fighting a wind farm proposal that wasn’t in the actual garden but was in the views (setting) to and from Lyveden so would have had a massive impact
Historic Landscape Project

5. What are County Gardens Trusts?
Autonomous charitable organisations which are all members of the Gardens Trust
Membership varies from 50 to 400+
Research & Recording Groups
Conservation Groups
Education and working with schools
Events and garden visits
36 CGTs – one for each county in England – are members of the Gardens Trust, which also has individual members. We also have close links with the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and Scotland’s Garden and Landscape Heritage. CGTs are involved in a range of activities, but all are individually structured and governed and pursue their own particular interests.
Historic Landscape Project

6. What do CGTs actually do?
So what do CGTs actually do? Do they sit around all day drinking sparkling wine in nice gardens, like in this pic?
Well, of course they are great at organising lovely garden visits and interesting lectures – this is a given so I’m not even going to talk about it today.
Historic Landscape Project

7. Statutory status
The GHS had a statutory involvement [Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 and DETR Circular 01/2001] – planning authorities must consult with it on planning applications that may effect Grade I, II* and II sites on the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest
The statutory status has now passed to The Gardens Trust
Let’s just take a look at the conservation role of TGT and CGTs.
GT is a statutory consultee so is consulted by local planning authorities on planning applications that may effect sites that are nationally designated on the Heritage List, or rather the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. (More on this designation later!)
It receives thousands of applications a year, which cannot be adequately dealt with by a tiny team based in one part of the country.
It therefore works closely with CGTs to comment on these applications.
So CGTs are very active in direct conservation works.
Historic Landscape Project

8. Historic Landscape Project
Research
Researching local landscapes
Site survey and recording
Understanding significance - training
Writing up concisely, consistently, professionally
Local listing
HERs, PGUK
So that’s CGTs and planning. But I know you’re more interested in the research side, and this is where CGTs are really strong.
CGTs are busy researching local landscapes that would otherwise go unrecognized (as well as ones of national importance).
This work includes days in the archives, but also involves walking the ground with a site survey and recording and an appreciation and noting of what survives in the landscape today as well as finding the details of its past.
CGTs and their research work are also at the forefront of the conservation move to ensure an understanding of the significance of sites – I’ll talk more about this in a bit.
And of course, what you’ll see about CGT research is that we are increasingly making sure that work is written up concisely, consistently, professionally.
Making sure their work joins up with the planning system by entering it in local lists, HERs and PGUK .
These are all things you will hear about today.
Of course, CGTs do a huge amount of ongoing research work, but they also like to bundle things up into ‘projects’, as a great way of creating buzz and attracting volunteers. Currently lots are focusing on projects researching Capability Brown landscapes, for his Tercentenary festival in 2016, or 1WW gardening or memorial sites as part of the centenary. Walled Gardens are also attracting a lot of attention, with several, from Isle of Wight to Suffolk researching and publishing on walled gardens.
Historic Landscape Project

9. Historic Landscape Project
@leapthehaha
So now I’ve set the scene for the CGTs who are doing so much of current R&R work, let’s spend the rest of the morning finding out exactly what it is that they’re embroiled in!
Historic Landscape Project