Gardens, Heritage & Planning
@gardenheritage.bsky.social
Parks and gardens, heritage, planning, heritage and planning, heritage and planning and parks and gardens... that sort of thing. There’s also a blog, if you’re interested: https://gardensheritageandplanning.com.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/49Uaonr) is all about dinosaurs. There are a surprising number to be found in parks and gardens, as it happens, in statue, fossil, tree and bird forms. Welcome to the Mesozoic! 🦖🦕🦤🌴
November 14, 2025 at 8:58 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/49Uaonr) is all about dinosaurs. There are a surprising number to be found in parks and gardens, as it happens, in statue, fossil, tree and bird forms. Welcome to the Mesozoic! 🦖🦕🦤🌴
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/43lsvyO) looks at mobile heritage (particularly planes, trains and boats), and what happens when this heritage is no longer so mobile, e.g. the protection of wrecks, scheduling, and - rarely - designating a boat as a listed building….
November 7, 2025 at 8:55 AM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/43lsvyO) looks at mobile heritage (particularly planes, trains and boats), and what happens when this heritage is no longer so mobile, e.g. the protection of wrecks, scheduling, and - rarely - designating a boat as a listed building….
Historic England’s 2025 #HeritageAtRisk ‘Register’ (more of a map and webpage, these days) is out: bit.ly/4osN6JO. There are now 105 parks & gardens on it, an increase of 2 since last year (2 removals, 4 additions):
🌳 2024: 103
🌳 2023:104
🌳 2022: 104
🌳 2021:104
🌳 2024: 103
🌳 2023:104
🌳 2022: 104
🌳 2021:104
November 6, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Historic England’s 2025 #HeritageAtRisk ‘Register’ (more of a map and webpage, these days) is out: bit.ly/4osN6JO. There are now 105 parks & gardens on it, an increase of 2 since last year (2 removals, 4 additions):
🌳 2024: 103
🌳 2023:104
🌳 2022: 104
🌳 2021:104
🌳 2024: 103
🌳 2023:104
🌳 2022: 104
🌳 2021:104
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4qwRdWV) focuses on the extraordinarily charming gardens at Kentwell Hall, in Suffolk, centred on a C16 house with moat, and featuring lodges, topiary, an ice house, tree sculpture, a camera obscura, a walled garden, a C20 ha-ha, and more….
October 31, 2025 at 8:54 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4qwRdWV) focuses on the extraordinarily charming gardens at Kentwell Hall, in Suffolk, centred on a C16 house with moat, and featuring lodges, topiary, an ice house, tree sculpture, a camera obscura, a walled garden, a C20 ha-ha, and more….
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/49j2KCS) looks at the origins of the National Garden Scheme. Set up in 1927, c.600 gardens opened in its first year, 72 of which also opened in 2025; 2 of those have opened every year since 1927, and over three-quarters are registered.
October 24, 2025 at 7:46 AM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/49j2KCS) looks at the origins of the National Garden Scheme. Set up in 1927, c.600 gardens opened in its first year, 72 of which also opened in 2025; 2 of those have opened every year since 1927, and over three-quarters are registered.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4hc5802) looks at plants, specifically the Pittosporum genus. Attractive evergreen shrubs, in a range of forms, they have an interesting history, and may be regarded as stalwarts of the garden.
October 17, 2025 at 7:32 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4hc5802) looks at plants, specifically the Pittosporum genus. Attractive evergreen shrubs, in a range of forms, they have an interesting history, and may be regarded as stalwarts of the garden.
The latest post on the blog looks at the history and future of the gardens at the wonderful Hestercombe, in Somerset: bit.ly/46MoTYL.
October 10, 2025 at 7:41 PM
The latest post on the blog looks at the history and future of the gardens at the wonderful Hestercombe, in Somerset: bit.ly/46MoTYL.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4mQauj5) explores and compares the botanic gardens of Oxford and Cambridge - whilst they have much in common, they are nevertheless remarkably different in terms of age, area, number of plant species, and their approach to plant taxonomy.
October 3, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4mQauj5) explores and compares the botanic gardens of Oxford and Cambridge - whilst they have much in common, they are nevertheless remarkably different in terms of age, area, number of plant species, and their approach to plant taxonomy.
A glorious display of delphiniums at West Dean Gardens this week.
October 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
A glorious display of delphiniums at West Dean Gardens this week.
The latest post on the blog is on the subject of crinkle-crankle walls (bit.ly/4pHVkic), specifically the history, science, frequency and distribution of these delightful structures.
September 26, 2025 at 7:32 AM
The latest post on the blog is on the subject of crinkle-crankle walls (bit.ly/4pHVkic), specifically the history, science, frequency and distribution of these delightful structures.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/423cRaF) looks at Lawrence Johnston’s two gardens: Hidcote (Gloucestershire), and Serre de la Madone (Côte d’Azur). Despite significant differences - not least in climate and topography - they also have much in common.
September 19, 2025 at 7:51 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/423cRaF) looks at Lawrence Johnston’s two gardens: Hidcote (Gloucestershire), and Serre de la Madone (Côte d’Azur). Despite significant differences - not least in climate and topography - they also have much in common.
I was reminded of Jurassic Park recently, having seen this Ficus macrophylla bursting out of a tiny pot and thriving: ‘Life, uh, finds a way’. More specifically:
*Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers….*
#GardensAndDinosaurs
*Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers….*
#GardensAndDinosaurs
September 12, 2025 at 5:53 PM
I was reminded of Jurassic Park recently, having seen this Ficus macrophylla bursting out of a tiny pot and thriving: ‘Life, uh, finds a way’. More specifically:
*Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers….*
#GardensAndDinosaurs
*Life breaks free. It expands to new territories. It crashes through barriers….*
#GardensAndDinosaurs
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/47HjuDe) looks at the temptation of the brown tourist sign, as well as its origins and use. There is, of course, one for gardens, though - as in this picture - the gardens are often usurped by their parent houses.
September 12, 2025 at 11:11 AM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/47HjuDe) looks at the temptation of the brown tourist sign, as well as its origins and use. There is, of course, one for gardens, though - as in this picture - the gardens are often usurped by their parent houses.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4lXcCVt) takes a look at the Venetian Waterways, in Norfolk. Created in the 1920s, they comprise gardens around a boating lake and winding canals, and reopened in 2019 after restoration. #GreatYarmouth
September 5, 2025 at 8:28 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/4lXcCVt) takes a look at the Venetian Waterways, in Norfolk. Created in the 1920s, they comprise gardens around a boating lake and winding canals, and reopened in 2019 after restoration. #GreatYarmouth
The pittosporum is fruiting… not seen that before.
September 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The pittosporum is fruiting… not seen that before.
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/45RQTs3) explores the abandoned village of Imber, in Wiltshire. The villagers were forced to leave in 1943, so the area could be used for military training, and never allowed to return. It’s now only partly intact, and of course empty.
August 29, 2025 at 7:59 AM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/45RQTs3) explores the abandoned village of Imber, in Wiltshire. The villagers were forced to leave in 1943, so the area could be used for military training, and never allowed to return. It’s now only partly intact, and of course empty.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/45Hg6W3) looks at the phenomenon of concrete boats. There are more of them than you might expect, and they do indeed float.
August 22, 2025 at 7:45 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/45Hg6W3) looks at the phenomenon of concrete boats. There are more of them than you might expect, and they do indeed float.
Reposted by Gardens, Heritage & Planning
It used to be believed that filling the trunks of hollow trees would keep out infection and help the tree to heal. No longer recommended, happily it doesn’t appear to have done too much harm to the mulberry at Down House and wild pear at the Cambridge Botanic Garden. [1 of 3]
August 19, 2025 at 7:01 AM
It used to be believed that filling the trunks of hollow trees would keep out infection and help the tree to heal. No longer recommended, happily it doesn’t appear to have done too much harm to the mulberry at Down House and wild pear at the Cambridge Botanic Garden. [1 of 3]
Great weather - and great company - at Ascott today (a Grade II* Rothschild garden, in Buckinghamshire).
August 17, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Great weather - and great company - at Ascott today (a Grade II* Rothschild garden, in Buckinghamshire).
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/3Ji7WvV) explores the garden at Villa Foscari, a Palladian villa in the Veneto. Largely reflecting a design from the 1920s, it is an elegant and tranquil space.
August 15, 2025 at 7:45 AM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/3Ji7WvV) explores the garden at Villa Foscari, a Palladian villa in the Veneto. Largely reflecting a design from the 1920s, it is an elegant and tranquil space.
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/45r4kPw) explores the garden at Shaw’s Corner, the Hertfordshire home where George Bernard Shaw and his wife, Charlotte, spent four decades. A charming and tranquil space, it comes complete with a rotating writing hut. As should all gardens.
August 8, 2025 at 9:16 AM
This week’s blog post (bit.ly/45r4kPw) explores the garden at Shaw’s Corner, the Hertfordshire home where George Bernard Shaw and his wife, Charlotte, spent four decades. A charming and tranquil space, it comes complete with a rotating writing hut. As should all gardens.
This is interesting. Not just in relation to the garden-related uprising, but also due to the fact that it was prompted in part by ‘the antient persons’ not being able to ‘walke for their pleasures’ in the common fields. Given that I too like a nice walke, I’m feeling rather antient myself, now….
#OnThisDay in London radical history, 1549, boisterous Londoners demolish gardens built by rich folk on 'suburban common fields' outside the walls of the City,: probably on Moorfields or Finsbury Fields, open spaces with a tradition of such demolitions.
wp.me/p74yfw-Fe
Today in London radical history, 1549: Londoners demolish rich folk’s gardens in ‘suburban common fields’
“Before this time the inhabitants of the towns about London, ‘Iseldon’, Hoxton, Shoresditch, and others, had so inclosed the common fields with hedges and ditches, that neither the young men of the…
wp.me
August 4, 2025 at 9:25 PM
This is interesting. Not just in relation to the garden-related uprising, but also due to the fact that it was prompted in part by ‘the antient persons’ not being able to ‘walke for their pleasures’ in the common fields. Given that I too like a nice walke, I’m feeling rather antient myself, now….
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/3U7SO6D) looks at the issues raised by the insertion of golf courses into historic parks and gardens. At least 1 in 12 registered sites include a golf course: what impact does this have on the conservation of designed landscapes?
August 2, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The latest post on the blog (bit.ly/3U7SO6D) looks at the issues raised by the insertion of golf courses into historic parks and gardens. At least 1 in 12 registered sites include a golf course: what impact does this have on the conservation of designed landscapes?