Public Places
walled kitchen gardens in the space between the new house and old gardens. Wrest Park remained in the hands of the family until 1917 when the last line of the family, Aubron Thomas Herbert 9th Baron Lucas, was killed in the First World War. The estate was sold off to John George Murray, a brewing and mining magnate, who himself had to sell off Wrest Park. It was placed on the market in 1934, but a buyer was not found until 1939 when the Sun Insurance Company made it their headquarters. After the Second World War, the insurance company sold off the estate to the Ministry of Works, who leased it to the National Institute of Agricultural Engineering, later called the Silsoe Research Institute. For over eighty years, the Institute was the main centre of agricultural engineering research, building up an international reputation. In 2006, the Institute closed, affording English Heritage the opportunity to reopen the gardens to the public
following major refurbishment. John Watkins is Head of Gardens &
Landscapes for English Heritage; he oversees the gardens and landscapes that can be found amongst over four hundred of the Governmental body’s sites.
John took up the position in 1999,
providing policy advice and technical guidance on the maintenance and management of designed landscapes and historic parks and gardens. Formerly Senior Lecturer at Hadlow College in Kent, he has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Edinburgh and Kew, the National Trust for Scotland and the RHS at Wisley and Hyde Hall. He has been on the management board of Plant Network and was Chair of Trustee of the Great Dixter Charitable Trust, which look after the nationally important planting at the East Sussex estate. He has served as an examiner for the RHS, and judges at RHS shows.
John heads up a number of colleagues
who bring various skills to the table in terms of managing and conserving historic gardens and designed landscapes.
I, myself, have fond memories of
Wrest Park as, during my time studying for a Masters Degree at the then Silsoe Campus (Cranfield University), back in 2002, I stayed at the campus for a year and regularly exercised around the gardens with my fellow students. I even gave them plant identity lessons whilst running. Even then it was an awe inspiring place, the ambience and scale of the gardens were immense. I also remember seeing the large croquet lawns, and imagined how fine they must have looked in their heyday. For me, having another chance to walk around the gardens with John was rather special. Our first point of call was to meet up with the gardening team. Corrine Price is the Upper Gardener and Apprentice Manager, who works under the Head Gardener, Chris Slatcher who, regrettably, on the day of
One of the now restored garden features
Water plays a big part in the overall design of the gardens
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