AGT News Page

A new publication 'The Gardens of English Heritage' will be launched in August by Gillian Mawrey and Linden Groves, formerly AGT Newsletter Editor

Sir Joseph Banks Tribute Garden has been opened recently in Horncastle, Lincolnshire by the High Sheriff, Mr John Godfrey, a project commissioned by the fledgling Sir Joseph Banks Society (Patron Sir David Attenborough) to create a community garden to display exotics associated with Banks's discoveries and plant collecting.

Research and planting was carried out by (left to right) Gwen Grantham, former Vice-Chairman of Lincolnshire Gardens Trust, together with fellow society members Pat Hickson and Jean Burton, Project Leader.

Heritage at Risk - New Pilot Project...

Lincolnshire Gardens Trust is supporting a new conservation venture: a pilot project working together with

The Heritage Trust of Lincolnshire

Urban Green Nation: A new publication from CABE that assembles the national evidence about the quantity, quality and use of publicly owned urban green space in England.

A breathtaking new landscape feature has recently been created within the seventeenth and eighteenth century, Grade I registered gardens at Boughton House near Kettering

Black Dog’s latest book release: Kids in the Garden: Growing Plants for Food and Fun.

Special offer for Gardens Trust Members

A review of Rivers Nursery of Sawbridgeworth by Elizabeth Waugh. Rivers was one of the most important of the Fruit Tree Nurseries of the 19^th century. Kate Harwood says this book "is a welcome addition to our knowledge, not only of Hertfordshire’s orchards but of the range of activities of such nurseries."

Six parks receive Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund grants of over £18 million.

A revised and updated 3rd Edition of Parks and Gardens by David Lambert, Peter Goodchild and Judith Roberts, has been publisehed in association with English Heritage.

Modern Planning System to Conserve and Enhance the Historic landscape announced.

Click Listen to hear Anne Rowe publicise the research work of Hertfordshire Gardens Trust on a recent BBC Radio4 Gardeners Question Time, highlighting the need for research volunteers for all county gardens trusts


On Thursday 23rd July 2009, Englefield House near Theale hosted the launch of the Berkshire Gardens Trust (BGT). Speakers included Gilly Drummond, President of the Association of Gardens Trusts.

Richard Elleyne of the Daily Telegraph reports that botanist David Bellamy is leading an attempt to restore the English elm to the countryside, more than thirty years after the species was almost wiped out. Thousands of saplings taken from trees that survived Dutch elm disease in the late sixties and seventies will be planted by his charity in the hope of ensuring a new generation of disease-resistant elms across the country.

The Great British Elm Experiment

With a £10,000 grant from English Heritage, and initial support by the Berkshire Community Foundation, the new Berkshire Gardens Trust promotes and protects the many Parks and gardens of the County.

Working with owners of gardens and with organisations such as the six Berkshire Unitary Authorities, the National Trust, English Heritage and the National Gardens Scheme, the Trust will become the source of information for conservation and restoration projects. The Trust will also work with schools and colleges and other community organisations to extend the knowledge and understanding of Berkshire's garden heritage.

Christina Hill Williams, Chairman of the Berkshire Gardens Trust and High Sheriff of Berkshire, said:

“It is with enormous pleasure, as the first Chairman of Berkshire Gardens Trust, that I welcome members, friends and supporters to our launch and first Annual General meeting. Although we are the last County Gardens trust to be established we have made huge strides since the first committee was founded last year. Berkshire has a great array of gardens, parks, man-made features and landscapes which are worth promoting, protecting and recording and that will be the task of the Trust in the years to come”.

The Committee has been active for just over a year and the Trust has already attracted more than 80 individual and five corporate members. Events have included visits to Waltham Place and Ingle Spring gardens, as well as a lecture on the famous landscape designer, Humphry Repton’s work in Berkshire. Plans in the pipeline include several educational projects and a county Gazetteer of all the historic Berkshire gardens.

Nigel Barker, of English Heritage, said:

“English Heritage is delighted to be able to support the establishment of the Berkshire Gardens Trust which completes a nationwide network dedicated to assisting in preserving and increasing understanding of historic parks and gardens. The commitment and enthusiasm of community based trusts like this one is an important element in successfully caring for our historic environment. This is why English Heritage has funding dedicated to growing the capacity and capabilities of local people and organisations to increase support and enjoyment for the places that they value”.

The Co-ordinator,
Registered Office: Association of Gardens Trusts,
70, Cowcross Street, London, EC1M 6EJ
Telephone 020 7251 2610
email:: gardenstrusts@agt.org.uk
dRegistered Charity No 1089258.
A Company Limited by Guarentee. Registered in England and Wales No. 3985370.