Winter Lecture Series 2008/2009
All lectures are from 7 to 8 pm on a Monday
evening. Doors open 6.30pm.
Join us for a glass of wine (included in the ticket price), interesting
conversation and a browse on our bookstall before and after the lecture.
Lectures on 13 October and 10 November are held at
the Swedenborg Society, 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH
Nearest tube station: Holborn
Nearest buses: 1, 8, 19, 25, 38, 55, 98, 242, also 59, 68, 91, 168, 188
Street map
Lectures from 8 December onwards are held at the Garden Museum
(formerly the Museum of Garden History), Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB.
Nearest station: Lambeth North (820m)
Nearest buses: 3, 77, 344, 507, C10.
Street map
- Mon 13 October 2008 7.00pm at the Swedenborg Society
The Gardens of Witanhurst in Highgate: Harold Peto’s Forgotten Gem
- Kristina Clode
- Sir Arthur Crosfield's vast Highgate mansion, built in 1913, was completed
by gardens designed by Harold Peto with planting by Percy Cane. Although the
gardens are now in ruins, plans survive. Kristina Clode will assess them in
the context of Peto's oeuvre.
- Mon 10 November 7.00pm at the Swedenborg Society
The Gardens and Green Assets of the Peabody
Estate
- Mathew Frith
- The Peabody Trust manages over 100 estates across 26 London Boroughs, and
has been developing gardens and other green spaces since 1860. In 2002 it put
in place an over-arching Open Spaces Strategy with a new emphasis on ecology.
Mathew Frith, their Landscape Regeneration Manager, will talk about his work
for the Trust, and also about his related interest in 'green roofs' and their
contribution to London's environment.
- Mon 8 December 7.00pm at the Garden Museum
Garden Ornaments in Artificial Stone: London
Companies in the 18th and 19th Centuries
- John Davis
- Coade Stone and Pulhamite are well known, but other types of artificial
stone were made by a number of companies, most of which were based in London.
John Davis will trace the use of these materials in the creation of garden
sculpture and ornament.
- Mon 12 January 7.00pm at the Garden Museum
John Brookes: Fifty Years of Garden and Landscape Design in London
- Barbara Simms
- It was in 1960s London that the contemporary designer John Brookes popularised the notion of the garden as ‘outdoor room’, an innovative concept particularly relevant to the urban garden. In subsequent years his commissions also encompassed private squares, commercial landscapes and exhibition gardens. Barbara Simms, author of a recent book on Brookes’s work, will discuss his London gardens in particular.
- Mon 9 February 7.00pm at the Garden Museum
Urban Parks: Towards a Viable Future
- Hazel Conway
- Hazel Conway, who has studied and written about public parks for many years
and is co-author of Public Prospects: Historic Urban Parks under Threat
(1993), will consider the issues raised by the conservation of parks in towns
and cities, including London.
- Mon 9 March 7.00pm at the Garden Museum
Bushy Park and its Deer
- Hugh Prince
Historically Bushy Park has been laid out and planted with a view to encouraging wildlife, particularly deer. Dr Prince has undertaken extensive research into English parks and published a number of definitive studies on the subject.
- Mon 6 April 7.00pm at the Garden Museum
Mile End Park – 20th-Century Plan / 21st-Century Vision
- Mike Rowan
- Mile End Park, laid out from 1995, is celebrated for its pioneering design
and management. Its origins lie in the County of London Plan of 1943, which
envisaged a linear park along the Regent's Canal linking existing open spaces.
Mike Rowan, the Park's Director, will talk about its past evolution, present
management and future development.