AGT Plans Conference 'Far from the Madding Crowd'

The Dorset Gardens Trust looks forward to acting as hosts to yhe Association of Gardens Trusts for its 2008 Annual Conference (29th-31st August).

Leweston School, near Sherborne, is the venue for the conference.

The Trust have based the theme of the Conference on Far From the Madding Crowd (with apologies to Thomas Hardy). Dorset is relatively far from the rush and hubbub of modern life and they look forward to showing us their hidden treasures. They have long been a forgotten county, with few large estates and only two gardens by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, two gardens with Repton connections and one garden where Gertrude Jekyll supplied plans on which she worked with Thomas Mawson. However, Dorset's once grand houses have always kept their footprints in the landscape and mellowed over the years to leave us with tempting glimpses of our rich and diverse past. Many Elizabethan and Jacobean houses dropped down the social scale and became working farms until the early C20, when discerning awareness lead to their revival. Some of the best gardens date from this period. The exciting creation of new gardens promises well for the future and the continuation of Dorset's garden heritage. Dorset Gardens Trust loosk forward to revealing this to us. Further details from Dorset Gardens Trust