CGT Publications

County Gardens Trust Publications make available to the public the uniquely detailed research done by CGTs, and their passion for the subject. CGT volunteers are a fantastic mine of information on the historic parks and gardens in their counties, and many of them have channeled this knowledge into books. Each CGT publication is different, but between them, they are a valuable source for anyone interested in or doing research on gardens and landscapes throughout the country.

Recent CGT Publications

Northamptonshire Gardens Trust

Sulby Hall

This book contains a wealth of previously unpublished research on the history of the walled kitchen garden that once belonged to Sulby Hall, Northamptonshire.

The book also includes a concise history of Sulby Hall and its owners putting into context the development of the walled kitchen garden from its inception to the present day using primary source documents.

It is the second book to be published by the Northamptonshire Gardens Trust and is a sequel to the Walled Kitchen Gardens of Finedon (sold out), part of a research project on the Walled Kitchen Gardens of Northamptonshire which has been underway for ten years.

Hardback, 110 pages, full colour, last few remaining, £22 + p&p.
To purchase a copy please contact: gardenhistory@outlook.com

Loddington Hall

This bookcovers the history of the Hall, its parkland and gardens, past residents, stable yard and the old walled kitchen garden. The images come from a number of private collections and the book uses some previously unpublished research.

This is the third book to be published by the Northamptonshire Gardens Trust in the Walled Kitchen Garden series, and is believed to be the only book written on Loddington Hall.

Hardback, 100 Illustrations, 97 pages, Limited edition, £20.
To purchase a copy please contact: gardenhistory@outlook.com

The Walled Kitchen Gardens of Northamptonshire, Finedon Hall and Vicarage

This book, of interest to garden historians and those interested in local history, contains a wealth of previously unpublished research on the history of the two walled kitchen gardens in Finedon, Northamptonshire – those of The Hall (now in multi ownership) and The Vicarage (a private dwelling since 2000).

The book covers the period from the first incarnation of the walled kitchen garden at Finedon Hall around 1805, Humphry Repton’s suggestion to move the kitchen garden during his proposed redesign of the grounds, through the later history of the gardens up to the present day. The history of the vicarage walled kitchen garden is also covered, using primary source documents.

This is the first book to be published by the Northamptonshire Gardens Trust and is an exciting prelude to published material of the Walled Kitchen Gardens of Northamptonshire research project which has been underway for eight years.

Hardback, 50 pages, Full Colour, £9.50 & p&p, Limited print run
Copies can be ordered from: gardenhistory@outlook.com

Sussex Gardens Trust

Gertrude Jekyll in Sussex, edited by Sally Ingram

A collection of new research by Sussex Gardens Trust explores the artist gardener, Gertrude Jekyll, through her drawings, correspondence and garden notebooks to reveal a fascinating picture of her commissions in Sussex.

Working from her home at Munstead Wood in Surrey, Jekyll sent plans and planting lists to her clients, making a copy or tracing for her own records. This collection of documents, together with letters and photographs, is now kept in the Environmental Design Archives, at the University of Berkeley, and in 2019 SGT supported a project to have the drawings for Jekyll’s commissions in Sussex digitised as high-resolution images, making them fully accessible for the first time.

The EDA collection forms a central focus of this new book, showcasing some of the less familiar Jekyll gardens now recreated through in-depth research by SGT. The drawings and plans for flower borders, made in sepia ink, sometimes coloured, annotated roughly in crayon or blue pencil, feature extensively, conveying a visual narrative of the commissions which span Jekyll’s working life.

Delving into the archive a unique picture emerges of a highly creative and distinctively modern woman, whose belief in natural planting while creating a harmony of colour, continues to influence garden designers of today. Piecing together the drawings and planting lists, notes for her architects and letters and photographs from clients provides an insight into the working practice of this renowned plantswoman who kept a close connection with Sussex throughout her life.

Gertrude Jekyll in Sussex will be published in July 2021 and copies will be available through the SGT website: www.sussexgardenstrust.org.uk

Hereford & Worcestershire Gardens Trust

A Survey of Historic Parks & Gardens in Worcestershire

This new book, written by Richard Lockett and edited and compiled by Jane Patton, has up-dated and enhanced entries along with a wealth of maps and new illustrative images. It is a thoroughly updated version of Richard Lockett’s original survey for HWGT which was published in 1997. An important reference work for historians, owners, planning and conservation officers and anyone interested in the many historic parks and gardens in Worcestershire. This limited hardback edition with attractive dust jacket accompanies David Whitehead’s Survey of Historic Parks and Gardens in Herefordshire, published in 2001.

ISBN 978-1-5272-3934-0, 29 October 2019, 360 pages, illustrated with colour and b/w photographs
Price £25 + £4 postage and packing
To receive a copy please send a cheque, made payable to HWGT, to Maggi Harriss, 54 St Andrews Road, Malvern, WR14 3PP or contact her at maggiharriss@gmail.com.

CGT Publications about Humphry Repton

To celebrate the Repton 200 Anniversary in 2018 several of the CGTs are publishing books about Repton’s work in their counties. This list will be added to and updated as more titles are released over the year. Please follow the links provided if you would like further information about a title or wish to purchase.

Buckinghamshire

Humphry Repton: Just what did he do for us in Bucks?

Based on several years of research by members of the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust this book explores just what Repton did in Buckinghamshire and links beyond the county too. It is informed by a detailed gazetteer and illustrated with many of his beguiling images, including watercolours from his unique Red Books.
Repton undertook at least 12 commissions in historic Buckinghamshire including the flower gardens of the still
spectacular Ashridge, now a business school, and the park at Stoke Park, preserved as a country club and golf
course. Further details from http://www.bucksgardenstrust.org.uk/our-publications/humphry-repton-just-what-did-he-do-for-us-in-bucks/

ISBN 978‐1‐5272‐2348‐6, August 2018, 160 pages, 80 illustrations, many full colour
Price £20 + £3.50 postage and packing
To receive a copy, please send a cheque for £23.50 made out to Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust to 11 Fledglings Way, Winslow MK18 3QU

Hampshire

Humphry Repton at Herriard Park ‘Improving the Premises’ by Sally Miller, with Sheila Carey-Thomas, Dee Clift and Eleanor Waterhouse

Herriard Park in Hampshire lies in the rolling downland south of Basingstoke and has been owned by the Jervoise family since the beginning of the 17^th century. In 1792 George Purefoy Jervoise (1770-1847) inherited the estate from a childless uncle and immediately began to spend money on improving the premises. He engaged Humphry Repton (1752-1818) to produce plans for a new walled kitchen garden, pleasure grounds and plantations.

Repton was paid for a Red Book but that is lost. However, Repton’s letters to his client survive as do detailed bills for all the work carried out, in the very large Jervoise family archive at Hampshire Record Office. They have enabled the authors to describe what was done at Herriard and the scale and cost of the works.

Garden historians will enjoy the research and the letters which throw light on Repton’s relationship with his client. Plant enthusiasts will also be interested in the analysis of the huge variety of trees, shrubs, flowering and ornamental plants, bulbs and even vegetable seeds purchased for the new gardens.

The book is lavishly illustrated in full colour throughout and is fully referenced. Appendices carry the detailed transcriptions of the plant orders with identification notes.

ISBN 978-1-916190-10-8 Published by Hampshire Gardens Trust, 2019, pp.96. Price £12 including postage and packing from http://www.hgt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Book-Order-Form_Humphrey-Repton-at-Herriard-Park.pdf

Hertfordshire

Humphry Repton in Hertfordshire by Susan Flood and Tom Williamson

Repton made a particularly significant contribution to the landscape of Hertfordshire, working at no less than eighteen places in the county, ranging in size from great mansions like Cashiobury and Panshanger to more modest ‘villas’ owned by wealthy businessmen and industrialists, such as Wood Hill in Essendon. Particular attention is given to those places for which Repton prepared one of his famous ‘Red Books’. The book presents complete transcriptions of all the key documents relating to Repton’s activities, including the full text of seven Red Books.
www.hertsgardenstrust.org.uk

ISBN 978-1-909291-98-0, March 2018, hardback, 304pp
Price £25 plus postage and packing. Available to order https://www.herts.ac.uk/uhpress/books-content/humphry-repton-in-hertfordshire. Also available from Amazon or any good book store.

Structure and Landscape William Wilkins and Humphry Repton at Haileybury 1806 – 1810 edited by Toby Parker and Kate Harwood

The study day organised by HGT at Haileybury in 2015 presented new information about the East India College and its landscape.
These proceedings of that study day, with some additional papers, provide new insights to both the buildings and Repton’s landscape and his considerable involvement in the site as well as the importance of the college as innovative in concept, design and execution.

To purchase this book please send a cheque made payable to Hertfordshire Gardens Trust for £14.00 to include p&p to: HGT, 78 Broadstone Road, Harpenden, Herts AL5 1RE.

For any queries please email conservation@hertsgardentrust.org.uk

Kent

Humphry Repton in Kent

Humphry Repton., the first person to call himself a landscape gardener, is not so widely known as his predecessor ‘Capability’ Brown whose anniversary we celebrated in 2016 but he was an very important influence on the development of garden design in the C19 and many of his ideas and principles are still very relevant today. Repton wrote several books describing his work and ideas as well as his Red Books in which he explained and illustrated his proposals for his clients are famous.

As part of a country wide celebration of his work members of Kent Gardens Trust research team have produced a beautifully illustrated book describing Repton’s five commissions in Kent with a short introduction to his life and artistic principles.

Humphry Repton in Kent is a companion volume to Capability Brown in Kent. It is 140 pages long and will interest not only garden historians but anyone with an interest in the social history of the county and the lives of the leading figures of the time. Our research has revealed fascinating and hitherto unknown contemporary letters and drawings and has made extensive use of Repton’s Red Books.

Price £10 (£8 for Kent Gardens Trust members) ISBN 978-0-9934044-1-2

Copies may be obtained direct from Kent Gardens Trust www.kentgardenstrust.org.uk or from bookshops.

London

REPTON IN LONDON:
The Gardens and Landscapes of Humphry Repton (1752-1818) in the London Boroughs

A fascinating insight into the unique range of gardens and landscapes Repton designed in and around the capital. His 50 plus commissions within the London Boroughs ranged from classic garden squares such as Russell Square and contemporary villas through to large landscapes such as that at Kenwood. Reproducing images from two of the customised Red Books and from his formal publications, this beautifully illustrated book sheds light on Repton’s work that has not previously received such detailed scrutiny.
Price £15 plus postage and packing. Available to order at www.londongardenstrust.org/publications/repton.php

Norfolk

Humphry Repton in Norfolk

The research team and members of the Norfolk Gardens Trust are delighted by the reaction to their latest book – Humphry Repton in Norfolk. This richly illustrated A4 hardback book contains 228 pages displaying 305 colour images, describing Repton’s life, work and art in his favourite county. The team of 10 researchers worked on 23 sites before submitting their findings to the book’s three editors: Sally Bate, Rachel Savage and Tom Williamson. All seven of the Norfolk Red Books are fully pictured and described, and amongst the many other paintings, drawings and engravings is a leather-bound book of Repton sketches made in 1779 – 80 (before his landscape gardening career began) photographed for the first time.

The last chapter in the book looks at ‘lost Repton Norfolk sites’ and examines the work of his competitors (Louden, Haverfield and the Kennedys) in the county in the same period. This book has been self-published by the NGT and a subvention from the University of East Anglia has led to the production of a high-quality book at a very competitive price of £20, to make it affordable to all. Available in Norfolk bookshops and by post from City Bookshop, Norwich or Norfolk Gardens Trust via peterwoodrow235@btinternet.com or sally.bate@ngs.org.uk

Sussex

A Collection of Research Papers on Humphry Repton’s Work in Sussex

Edited by Susi Batty
Published November 2018
Price £15 plus postage and packing
Contact: information@sussexgardenstrust.org.uk or susibatty@hotmail.com

West Midlands

‘In the Enemy’s Quarters’: Humphry Repton in the West Midlands by David Whitehead and Jane Bradney

Repton exhibition catalogue published by the Hereford and Worcester Gardens Trust who organized the exhibition.
106 pages with c.90 colour illustrations – mostly from the relevant Red Books.
Principally about Herefordshire but covers Repton landscapes in the suburbs of Birmingham, Worcestershire, South Shropshire and Radnorshire.
The text is written by Jane Bradney and David Whitehead.
By post it is £5 plus £2 postage from David Whitehead at 60 Hafod Road, Hereford HR1 1SQ

Yorkshire

On The Spot: The Yorkshire Red Books of Humphry Repton, landscape gardener by Patrick Eyres and Karen Lynch

This book explores all the places attributed to Repton in Yorkshire:- Armley, Bessacre, Harewood, Langold, Mulgrave Castle, Oulton, Owston, Rudding and Wentworth Woodhouse. It contains the most up-to-date research and reproduces the extant Red Books, courtesy of the owners, along with a festival of associated imagery that includes all Repton’s Yorkshire illustrations for Peacock’s Polite Repository.
www.yorkshiregardenstrust.org.uk

Publication date May 2018 New Arcadian Press.
Price £20 plus postage and packing from http://www.newarcadianpress.co.uk/

CGT Publications about ‘Capability’ Brown

To celebrate the Capability Brown Festival, we have gathered together here the CGT books on Brown – please follow the links provided if you wish to make a purchase.

Cambridgeshire

www.cambsgardens.org.uk

Follow the Capability Brown trail around Cambridgeshire with a series of leaflets setting out walks to take in some of his most famous landscapes: Wimpole Hall, the Cambridge Backs, and Madingley, as well as his home at Fenstanton.

The leaflets can be downloaded from the Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust website.

Essex

www.essexgardenstrust.org.uk

Essex Garden Trust’s new publication, Lancelot Brown and his Essex Clients is a gazetteer of Brown’s eighteenth century commissions that reshaped the landscape of several of Essex’s historic houses. Sites included are Audley End, Belhus, Coopersale House, Copped Hall, Hallingbury and Hatfield Forest, Navestock, Shortgrove, and Thorndon Park.

Available from:
Jill Plater,
5 Wakelin Chase,
Ingatestone
CM4 9HH
(Tel. 01277 352867).
jillplater@hotmail.com

Price: £8.00 plus £2.00 postage and packing.