NEIL Cook, head gardener at Hanbury Hall, treated the audience to a lighthearted but nonetheless informative presentation on Wednesday March 1st about his challenge to recreate the 18th century formal gardens.

Prior to being appointed to lead on the momentous task of restoring the garden from scratch in February 1988, Neil had been employed at Waddesden Manor, Buckinghamshire from 1979, eventually becoming the Assistant Head Gardener at the tender age of just 20. He was looking ideally for a post near the coast, when the Hanbury opportunity came up and although he had originally planned to stay for only a few years, he admitted he is now very much attached to ‘his baby’, having spent the last 29 years there.

Thomas Vernon, an eminent legal professional, built the house in 1701 and his family owned the property for some 300 years. The Vernons were not blessed with heirs however, and so it eventually passed into the ownership of the National Trust in 1962 on the death of Lady Doris Vernon. It was let a few times, but was stripped of its furniture since this was left to an adopted daughter. The painted staircase and ceiling, featuring a stunning mural by Sir James Thornhill, depicting Achilles and the daughters of Lycomedes and commissioned by Thomas Vernon in 1710, remained however. This was a tremendous coup since Thornhill was responsible for high profile works such as the Dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Painted Hall at Blenheim. It was later realised that the work was a political statement about the controversial Tory Reverend Henry Sacherevell, since Thomas Vernon was a Whig.

At one point, there was some thought of mothballing the venue as there were few visitors but fortunately The National Trust decided to invest in bringing the house back to a good condition and furnishing it during a nine months closure. It was re-opened it with a new branding as a wedding venue.

Neil persuaded the NT to devote some money into improving the garden as this would help to enhance the offer for visitors and potential wedding couples. With the help of an EEC grant, the plans, (drawn by map-makers Docherty and preserved on vellum at The Hive), for the original gardens of 1732, designed by garden designer and nurseryman George London, were re-introduced. London’s style of garden design, using structure, order and symmetry, was as near as any English designer came to the French High Baroque. The Hanbury design echoed the lines of a peacock’s tail, broken up with various vistas towards landmarks such as the Malvern and Lickey Hills, designed to take the eye beyond the garden. However in 1776, when the new style set by Capability Brown came into fashion, all the detail which had been created was swept away.

Neil (clearly not a Brown fan), used the £143,000 to attempt to recreate the 1732 formal sunken parterre, starting in September 1993 and planting over 16,000 plants of the period, and 4,000 box hedges for the borders and concentric rings. The drainage system and building the brick walls were completed next, using around 24,000 bricks. A condition of the grant had been that the gardening team had to finish the work within a twelve month period - a formidable task, especially as they also had to check on any archaeological discoveries as they went along.

Neil’s team also recreated a colourful ribbon border using distinctive pink hyacinths, as well as tulips and primulas. Many of the original plants had, in fact, come from George London’s Brompton’s own nursery. The second garden restored was a fruit garden featuring apple and pear trees which are kept clipped according to 18th century style, and formal vegetable gardens, using ash poles for beans, as had been done before. A dramatic feature of the third garden was a 311 year old Cedar of Lebanon and ha-ha which form the basis for a popular walk around the grounds today.

Visitors to the 400 acre estate can also see a cider crush in the new car park, (originally a centre piece in the front of the house), an ice- house, and a brick kiln pond in the grounds which was used to make the bricks needed for the house. A bowling green and pavilion were also recreated in 2001 and in July every year visitors are invited to come and play the game themselves.

All the hard work and investment has obviously paid off as in 2016, the venue attracted 183,700 visitors, and plans are already afoot to welcome an anticipated 300,000 next year. Justifiably proud of his achievement, Neil was quick to point out that keeping the gardens shipshape would not be possible without the 80 or so volunteer gardeners who regularly come to help with the upkeep of the estate.

LESLEY MILLER