The Gardens Trust is going to the Land of the Fanns to work with the team running a landscape scheme which aims to restore one of the last remaining landscapes on the borders of London and Essex. We will be supporting volunteers on their research and recording project over the next two years.
The Land of the Fanns is an evocative name for the area near Upminster where London and Essex meet. The term ‘Fanns’ is derived from the Saxon word for fen, which meant ‘low marshy land or low-lying district’. The area is currently enjoying a well-deserved resurgence of heritage pride, thanks to a landscape partnership scheme which is funded by a Lottery grant. The project aims to restore, discover and celebrate one of the last remaining landscapes of London as it once was.
The Gardens Trust is thrilled that the Land of the Fanns team to support their research and recording project, which will run over the next couple of years. We will help volunteers learn how to ‘read’ a historic landscape on site visits and use archives for research. They will then produce basic Statements of Significance to help conserve these landscapes for the future. The project will include several preliminary training workshops for volunteers, which consultant Twigs Way will be running on our behalf from September to November 2019.
If you would like to find out more or get involved in this exciting project, please email Deborah Brady, visit their website or follow the project at:
twitter@landofthefanns
facebook.com/LandOfTheFanns/
Find out more about the GT’s work to encourage more people to understand and enjoy historic landscapes through our Sharing Repton project.
Photo: Dagnam Park in the Land of the Fanns, designed by Humphry Repton
