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Historic gardens face modernisation dilema
The former home of
Victorian plantswoman Gertrude Jekyll – Munstead Wood in Surrey – has been saved for the nation following the death of its previous owner, Marjorie Clark. But the challenge of restoring and opening this historic private garden to the public, without losing its charm, is demanding a radical rethink of how we visit gardens.
“We’re not going to do a full-on restoration,” says Andy Jasper, the National Trust’s Director of Gardens, who oversaw the purchase with help from government coffers. “The one fear of those involved in getting the property to us was that the place would become too commercial – but we’re determined to make sure it’s as accessible as it can be, without overcrowding.”
The Trust won’t be changing the long single driveway leading to the garden, or installing a car park. Andy says visits will likely be via pre-booked tours, with pilot tours starting this spring. The move follows similar restrictions on visitor numbers at popular smaller gardens such as Woolbeding in West Sussex, where minibuses bring pre-booked visitors from a nearby car park.
Two of the top three visitor attractions in the UK are gardens, with the most popular – the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – attracting nearly two million visitors last year. But keeping the crowds happy requires 21st-century facilities, from tea rooms, toilets and ticket offices to wheelchair-accessible paths. These are hardly compatible with small, intimate gardens designed a century ago.
Creating accessible paths that don’t interfere with a garden’s historic layout is a design challenge. The intricate gardens at Eltham Palace in south London, for example, were designed in the 1930s on multiple levels and included easily ruined grass paths. “Arts and Crafts gardens are not designed for thousands of visitors – they’re designed for family and friends to enjoy,” says English Heritage’s Head of Gardens and Landscape, John Watkins. The restored gardens now feature a subtly sloping bonded gravel path to lead visitors round the whole garden without the need for steps.
At Kiftsgate Court Gardens in Gloucestershire, owner Anne Chambers takes a low-key approach to preserve the feel of a family garden for visitors. The ‘ticket office’ is a table and chair by the entrance, while health and safety features such as railings
