Friday 30 May 2025
6pm:
Registration (for those who have booked for dinner)
6.30pm:
Dinner
7.45pm
Registration (for those who have not booked for dinner)
8pm:
Rebels and Reactionaries: Trends in Twentieth Century Garden Design, with Katie Campbell
The massive political and social upheavals of the twentieth century had a particularly dramatic effect on British gardens and horticulture. This introductory lecture will chart the major trends, placing them within a wider cultural context, touching on important designers and seminal gardens, and examining the enduring influence of twentieth century garden design.
9.15pm
End of day
Saturday 31 May 2025
8am:
Breakfast (residents only)
9am:
English Arts & Crafts gardens from the archives of Country Life, with Kathryn Bradley-Hole
The Arts & Crafts designer, William Morris (1834-1896), famously declared, "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." When Country Life magazine launched, in 1897, a remarkable collaboration occurred between its proprietor, Edward Hudson, famous garden writers William Robinson and Gertrude Jekyll, and the architect Edwin Lutyens. Between them, they took Morris's dictum outdoors, championing the English Arts & Crafts garden as a major design philosophy for the early 20th century.
10am:
New towns and public spaces, with Jan Woudstra
When New Towns were conceived after the war as a solution to the dense and polluted industrial towns, it was the health benefits that were emphasised. Landscape design was a main component to achieve healthy so-called Open Cities, with interlinked greenspaces and separated pedestrian and car networks. This talk looks at their conception and how they have fared.
11am:
Tea/coffee break
11.30am:
Modern public and private gardens from The MERL archives, with Annabel Downs
The twentieth century represents the most active and innovative period in the entire history of designed landscapes. More importantly the focus shifts from predominantly private commissions to embracing public projects of an extraordinary scale and range, revealing a growing confidence and excitement among members of the expanding profession. This talk offers a peep into their Landscape Institute archives at The MERL (Museum of English Rural Life)
12.30pm:
20th century Oxford college gardens, with Tim Richardson
In this talk Tim Richardson will draw on his research for his book Oxford College Gardens (2015), discussing whole colleges such as St Catherine's, St Anne's, Nuffield and Wolfson, as well as some modern moments in older institutions.
1.30pm:
Morning session ends. Packed lunches available for those who have ordered them
1.45pm:
Visit to the modernist gardens by Powell and Moya at Wolfson College, with Tim Richardson on hand as guide
4.15pm:
End of visit (approx). Transport available back to Rewley House. Free time until dinner.
6.30pm:
Dinner
8pm:
Four influential 20th century women gardeners, with Catherine Horwood
This talk will examine and compare four prominent 20th-century women gardeners: Phyllis Reiss, Margery Fish, Beth Chatto and Penelope Hobhouse. The first three, each with their own distinctive planting styles, have influenced gardeners for decades, while Penelope Hobhouse’s design work has been celebrated across the Western world.
9.15pm:
End of day
Sunday 1 June 2025
8am:
Breakfast (residents only)
9am:
Liverpool International Garden Festival with Will Holborow
The Liverpool International Garden Festival in 1984 was created through the transformation of a derelict industrial site next to the River Mersey, and attracted over 3 million visitors. Since then the site has suffered long periods of neglect and the original ambitions for the its future have been largely unfulfilled. Nonetheless, the remaining gardens and open spaces are a much-loved area for recreation.
10am:
20th century landscapes at risk, with Karen Fitzsimon and Catherine Croft, followed by a Q&A on the issues of managing modern registered parks and gardens
11am:
Tea/coffee break
11.30am:
The impact of the climate challenge on heritage gardens (speaker TBC)
12.45pm:
Lunch and conference disperses
