Garden research
The gardens of Robert Stayner Holford and Lewis Vulliamy at Westonbirt School, Gloucestershire
Westonbirt Study Day organised by Gloucestershire Gardens and Landscape Trust and the Association of Gardens Trusts.
On 21 October2010 sixty people from across the country gathered at Westonbirt School to consider the history and future of its nineteenth-century park and gardens. Together with the more famous arboretum, the park and gardens comprise an internationally important grade I registered landscape created by two generations of the Holford family.
George Peter Holford (d.1839) consulted the picturesque improver William Sawrey Gilpin (1761/2-1843) whilst his son, Robert Stayner Holford (1808-1892), enlarged the park and expanded the gardens with the assistance of his architect, Lewis Vulliamy, the landscape gardener, William Broderick Thomas (1811-?1898) and the Victorian firm of James Pulham & Son. In the 1850s Robert Holford also founded the arboretum and in the 1860s and 70s, again aided by Vulliamy, rebuilt the house which is now run as a school.
The landscape survives in its entirety although much of the planting is suffering from benign neglect and the tree collection reached maturity some years ago. Two fragments of the extensive glasshouse range that once housed an important orchid collection remain. The Palm House is now the school’s music room and the Camellia House was recently restored with assistance from the Holfords of Westonbirt Trust. The garden buildings of the sumptuous Italian Garden are the next features to demand restoration; partly because of Holford and Vulliamy’s passion for innovative untested building techniques. The restoration of some of these is the subject of an HLF phase 2 bid being prepared by the Westonbirt Partnership which comprises the Forestry Commission, the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum, Westonbirt School (which owns large parts of the parkland) and the Holfords of Westonbirt Trust (which leases the gardens).
The study day brought together new research which revealed the cohesive Anglo-Italian style used in the architecture of the new house, the art collections and library assembled within and the formal gardens. It also explored recent replanting in the Italian Garden funded by the Finnis Scott Foundation that is maintained by a handful of dedicated volunteers.
The study day brought together professionals and amateurs concerned to secure the future of this unique garden. Gloucestershire Gardens and Landscape Trust undertakes research across the county and supports the conservation of its historic parks and gardens. To find out more about the Trust visit www.gglt.co.uk. The gardens of Westonbirt School are open to the public during school holidays.
