How historic is your local park?

Fun activities to help you explore the history of your local park or garden

Take our family friendly activity sheets on your next visit to uncover its past and be inspired to create your own!

Education, Garden History, Landscape Design, Public Parks

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Britain

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Garden History Bingo

Parks and gardens contain lots of interesting features, many of which can be quite old and historic. Tell us what you can spot in your local park or garden and when you think they were first built.

Download our Garden History Bingo activity here (PDF)

Write a letter to your local park

We all love our local parks and gardens and this activity helps us take a moment to appreciate what makes them so wonderful. Imagine your park was a person - what would you write in a letter to show them how much you care?

Download our Dear Park activity sheet here (PDF)

Looking for inspiration for your letter? Read a piece written by Jo Barnes, Trustee of the Gardens Trust, on how much she values historic places today.

Download Jo’s article here (PDF)

Design your own historic garden

Much like landscape designers from the past, you've been given the task of designing your own beautiful garden. Taking inspiration from historic parks and gardens across Britain, create your own landscape masterpiece!

Download our Design Your Own Historic Garden activity sheet here (PDF)

Education, Garden History, Landscape Design, Public Parks

Places

Cecil Pinsent and his Gardens in Tuscany

Eleonora Tonon takes us on a tour of Cecil Pinsent’s famous 20th Century gardens in Tuscany, from their inspiration to their creation.

People

Cecil Pinsent

Cecil Pinsent trained in London before settling in Florence, where he created symmetrical, geometrically ordered Tuscan gardens for the vibrant local Anglo-American expatriate community.

Topics

The Importance of Setting

A park or garden is more than a single focal point like a fountain, their true charm lies in the full sensory experience of a place including distant views, soothing sounds, and crisp, fresh air.

Topics

Jumpers for Goalposts: How Public Parks Built the Beautiful Game

The rise of football in Britain coincided with one of the great social innovations of the nineteenth century – the creation of public parks.

Topics

A History of British Football Playing Surfaces

The first football pitches of the 1800s were scythed or grazed but over time evolved into highly maintained landscapes incorporating drainage, heating and new technology such as Astroturf

Topics

Council Sports Fields from the 1970s

Landscape Design Consultant John Harris recounts his career in Wigan Council’s Landscape Department helping to design and maintain designed landscapes

History Hub

Discover the people, places, and ideas
that shaped our garden history.

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