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the garden history blog everything you need to know about garden history the garden history blog everything you need to know about garden history skip to content home topics covered so far individual houses gardens and landscapes gardeners garden makers and designers plant hunters flowers plants trees animals in the garden gardens and art literature general history and conservation garden technology buildings blog website older posts francis bacon and his later gardens posted on 18 04 2026 by the garden history blog a portrait of bacon in the robes of lord chancellor completed between 1618 and 1621 photo trinity college cambridge last week s post looked at the gardens created by sir francis bacon before he managed to climb the greasy pole of political advancement this week i m going to look at the gardens theoretical and real that he designed once he d reached the top these include the imaginary garden setting he planned for a magnificent court masque and the water gardens he created at his gorhambury estate near st albans of course greasy poles are notoriously slippery and it was not long before his rapid fall and dramatic disgrace sent him back to gorhambury where he spent the last five years of his life writing including what have been described as the greatest philosophical works of the english renaissance and of course his famous essay on gardens continue reading posted in uncategorized 1 comment francis bacon and his early gardens posted on 11 04 2026 by the garden history blog francis bacon 1st viscount st alban by john vanderbank c1731 based on an earlier painting c1618 national portrait gallery london april 9th marked the 400th anniversary of the death in 1626 of the philosopher statesman and gardener sir francis bacon the opening lines of his essay of gardens must surely be amongst the most famous words about gardens in history god almighty first planted a garden and indeed it is the purest of human pleasures it continues it is the greatest refreshment to the spirits of man without which buildings and palaces are but gross handiworks and a man shall ever see that when ages grow to civility and elegancy men come to build stately sooner than to garden finely as if gardening were the greater perfection but bacon was not just a theoretician with a nice turn of phrase he was a garden designer and made three significant gardens gray inn twickenham and gorhambury he also understood the potential power of gardens writing about them theoretically and even in dramatic form i once heard the late lisa jardine talking about this and arguing that bacon was acutely aware of the way that expertise in horticulture garden design and even planting and pruning could be used to worldly effect and how throughout his life he deployed his gardening skills to gain favour with those in power old gorhambury the ruins of bacon s family home for more on the house and its history see the english heritage webpage on the site continue reading posted in uncategorized leave a comment wearing white for eastertide posted on 04 04 2026 by the garden history blog loveliest of trees the cherry now is hung with bloom along the bough and stands about the woodland ride wearing white for eastertide housman s haunting poem part of his shropshire lad collection written in 1896 is one of the nation s favourites it has been set to music at least 60 times most famously by vaughan williams if you don t know it click here to hear it recited by judy dench or to hear it sung in a performance by bryn terfel i was reminded of both the poem and the song on a recent visit to kew on a lovely sunny day when the cherries were just coming into bloom and standing out against a bright blue sky of course housman was thinking of our native wild cherry prunus avium but these days we are fortunate enough also to have hundreds of varieties of ornamental ones almost all from japan china and korea as well and i wondered about their history especially since those countries were largely closed to westerners until the middle of the 19th century and discovered that we owe a huge debt of gratitude to just one man who introduced many varieties to britain and in the process saved them in japan as well continue reading posted in uncategorized 2 comments cragside posted on 28 03 2026 by the garden history blog i ve just been to cragside in northumberland and my first reaction was that its creators william and margaret armstrong must have had very powerful leg muscles it is a stunning site but there are so many steps and precipitous slopes as to be almost unbelievable it s no wonder that the first house in the world to be lit by hydro electricity also had the world s first hydro powered lift i could have done with one to explore the rock garden below the house as it covers 4 acres and is the largest in europe the armstrongs planted an estimated 7 million trees and shrubs as well as creating over 3 acres of formal gardens and a range of greenhouses and conservatories for plants you wouldn t expect to survive let alone thrive in northumberland they were also philanthropists on a grand scale supporting parks hospitals education and museums as well as running businesses in engineering shipbuilding and armaments which employed over 25 000 people but for william cragside was relaxation he told a journalist in 1893 i can t begin to give you the faintest idea of the pleasure it s given me i feel certain that have there been no cragside i should not be talking to you today because it has been my very life read on to find out why continue reading posted in uncategorized 2 comments seaton delaval revisited posted on 21 03 2026 by the garden history blog it s over ten years since i first visited seaton delaval hall just north of newcastle i wrote a post about it shortly afterwards saying i d been mesmerised by vanbrugh s final masterpiece i returned last week and came away even more impressed the national trust working with the local community and with grants from the heritage lottery fund have given the house and garden a new lease of life under a project called the curtain rises they deserve congratulations especially because it s the 300th anniversary of vanbrugh s death in just a few days time on the 26th march for more on that see the vanbrugh300 website while the popular press s description of the house as the geordie versailles maybe a bit of an exaggeration the house is as an 1887 guidebook put it unsurpassed for grandeur and dignity by any other in the north the north front by arthur pond 1745 continue reading posted in uncategorized tagged bastion john piper john vanbrugh national trust leave a comment older posts search for most popular posts during the last 48 hours electroculture the wheelbarrow a weapon of war the golden apples of the hesperides the hanging gardens of babylon the company s garden the water gardens and coombe wood nursery nun appleton funny faces arcimboldo s four seasons an aztec herbal wild men archives april 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