Mark Johnston will speak of his 50 years as an independent scholar in the greenspace industry. He is the author of 'Street Trees in Britain , A History' 2022, among other works. He will reference the detail covered in his recently published book.
he Northern Ireland Heritage Gardens Trust recently held a very successful conference at the Woodenbridge Hotel, Co Wicklow, when over a hundred delegates from Ireland and Great Britain enjoyed a programme of talks about The Role of Water in Historic Garden Design and Management.
Christy gave our Spring Lecture earlier this year, giving us a foretaste of what was to come, and, for those also attending our conference next week, there will be a number of the books available to buy as well as an opportunity to speak to the author.
Although remodelled in the mid-Victorian era, the formal patte d'oie garden bosquet at Purdysburn was a rare survival from a period when geometric garden layouts were the stylistic norm everywhere in Europe. Evidently dating to the 1735-45 period, this garden was typical of the kind of formal garden associated with houses of the later 17th and early 18th century. It survived into the Victorian era when it was remodelled with the addition of a central canal or long pond. The main structure of the garden survived intact until the 1960s, but after the house was demolished it fell into decay. Although rather neglected and overgrown, the garden still exists and could be restored. Unfortunately, misleading terminologies, such as 'Union Jack Garden', have served to give the garden a political dimension which it does not possess. This short paper attempts to trace the history Purdysburn and place the historic garden in it correct context.
