20th March 2023
Topiary, Knots and Parterres
Topiary, Knots and Parterres – the history and its role in the garden today with Caroline Foley, MA, winner of the 2018 European Garden Book of the Year.
The sculptural qualities of topiary have been enjoyed by cottagers and kings alike in gardens through history. This talk follows the story of topiary in its many guises (and occasional falls from grace) from the Romans to the top designers of today. The case is made that topiary still has a useful role to play, even in the wildest of gardens, and the ancient art of clipping trees and shrubs for decorative effect deserves to be in every gardener’s box of tricks.
20th March 2023
Gardens from the Tudor and Stuart periods
A lecture with Dr Ann Benson FSA FRHistS.
Gardens from the Tudor period have not survived, but we have a wealth of information about them. Amongst the nobility, ornamental gardens were a symbol of status: they reflected their owner’s wealth and an awareness of the Renaissance ideals of controlling and improving nature. For example, the Tudor knot garden, where everything is in its place, reflects a culture of bending nature to man’s precise wishes. The finest Tudor gardens were created for Henry VIII and by the courtiers of Elizabeth I, and with the same precision that is seen in the era’s wainscoting, embroidery and plaster-work. The gardens of the following Stuart period combined more complex knot designs containing coloured minerals, with more exotic plants, ornate fountains, water parterres, canals, and sculpture that became more classical than heraldic in design. This lecture brings these gardens to ‘life’ using contemporary letters, books, paintings and recreations, both real and virtual, and also includes some references to the historic Charterhouse gardens.
16th February 2023
Thomas Sutton Lecture 2023
How the Reformation “Broke” the English Church?
Lecture by Dr Emma J. Wells, Lecturer in Ecclesiastical and Architectural History at the University of York. Specialising in the late medieval and reformation English parish church/cathedral, pilgrimage, the cult of saints, and the ‘senses’, as well as built heritage more generally.
When we think of the pre-reformation parish church and cathedral, prior to King Henry VIII’s ‘stripping of the altars’, the image conjured is often an arena of sensory delight, which stands in sharp contrast to the austere, suppressed image of its Protestant counterpart. But how true is this picture? In this lecture, Dr Emma J. Wells explains what these changes were, why they occurred, and where their impact can still be seen today—and assesses whether Henry VIII was really the perpetrator behind this upheaval.
This lecture is kindly supported through a generous donation by Diploma Plc.
12th October 2021
James I and the English Witch Hunts: Recorded lecture
We were delighted to welcome back acclaimed historian, author and broadcaster Tracy Borman for our September online Lecture. Now you can see the recording of this gripping talk, inspired by her non-fiction book, Witches, as well as her fiction trilogy, The King’s Witch, which takes us into the turbulent world of the early Stuart court. After inheriting the throne from the last Tudor monarch, Elizabeth I, James VI and I waged a war on witches and Catholics alike. It was not long before a dark campaign to destroy both King and Parliament gathered pace, culminating in the Gunpowder Plot.
