Gertrude Jekyll and Munstead Wood: The Home of the "Artist-Gardener"

Special Event

Gertrude Jekyll and Munstead Wood: The Home of the "Artist-Gardener"

Day	Saturday
Date	6th July 2024
Time	10:30 - 12:30
Presenter	Dr Caroline Ikin
Cost	£12.00
Room	Main Hall
THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED
Availability	46/50 Places

Event Description
©National Trust Images/Laurence Perry ©National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole Munstead Wood, near Godalming in Surrey, was the home of Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) who is well known as a garden designer and writer but was also accomplished in the decorative arts and photography. In 1882 Jekyll began to create a 15-acre garden which became a place of experimentation, particularly in the colour combinations of hardy flower borders. She designed areas to flower in different seasons, laid out a woodland garden, and established a nursery to supply clients with the plants specified in her designs. Jekyll wrote fifteen books and over a thousand articles which offer an extraordinary record of her gardening activities at Munstead Wood, along with photographs, planting plans and plant lists. The National Trust acquired Munstead Wood in April 2023 and plans are underway to restore the house and garden and explore ways of interpreting Jekyll’s legacy. This talk will present Jekyll’s life and work alongside her fruitful relationship with Edwin Lutyens, and will offer a visual tour of Munstead Wood, where Jekyll’s ideal of the ‘artist-gardener’ achieved complete expression. Supported by Rottingdean Heritage
Presenter
Dr Caroline Ikin is the National Trust Curator at Munstead Wood. She has previously worked in museums and for the Gardens Trust and her research interest is in nineteenth century art, architecture and gardens. She is author of The Victorian Garden (2012), The Victorian Gardener (2014), The Kitchen Garden (2017) and has written for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Garden History, Furniture History, Museums Journal and various other publications, and was awarded the Mavis Batey Essay Prize in 2022. She has lectured widely, including at the Gardens Trust, V&A, Watts Gallery, Furniture History Society and Oxford University.

Event Description

©National Trust Images/Laurence Perry

©National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

Munstead Wood, near Godalming in Surrey, was the home of Gertrude Jekyll (1843-1932) who is well known as a garden designer and writer but was also accomplished in the decorative arts and photography. In 1882 Jekyll began to create a 15-acre garden which became a place of experimentation, particularly in the colour combinations of hardy flower borders. She designed areas to flower in different seasons, laid out a woodland garden, and established a nursery to supply clients with the plants specified in her designs. Jekyll wrote fifteen books and over a thousand articles which offer an extraordinary record of her gardening activities at Munstead Wood, along with photographs, planting plans and plant lists. The National Trust acquired Munstead Wood in April 2023 and plans are underway to restore the house and garden and explore ways of interpreting Jekyll’s legacy. This talk will present Jekyll’s life and work alongside her fruitful relationship with Edwin Lutyens, and will offer a visual tour of Munstead Wood, where Jekyll’s ideal of the ‘artist-gardener’ achieved complete expression.

Supported by Rottingdean Heritage

Presenter

Dr Caroline Ikin is the National Trust Curator at Munstead Wood. She has previously worked in museums and for the Gardens Trust and her research interest is in nineteenth century art, architecture and gardens. She is author of The Victorian Garden (2012), The Victorian Gardener (2014), The Kitchen Garden (2017) and has written for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Garden History, Furniture History, Museums Journal and various other publications, and was awarded the Mavis Batey Essay Prize in 2022. She has lectured widely, including at the Gardens Trust, V&A, Watts Gallery, Furniture History Society and Oxford University.