Interview Christopher Woodward
CHRISTOPHER WOOD-WARD is incandescent. The day before this interview, he spoke at a public enquiry that will decide this year whether to allow three blocks of luxury flats to be built overlooking the Garden Museum in St Mary-at- Lambeth, SE1, of which he has been director since 2006.
There is much to fight for. The only museum in the UK dedicated to the art, history and design of gardens, it is a typically British success story: one that began in the early 1970s with a battle to save the medieval and Victorian church and ended up creating one of the most innovative, eclectic venues in London. Although Mr Woodward is too young to have been in the vanguard of this struggle, the museum’s current popularity is undoubtedly thanks to his maverick touch of genius.
‘People will look at this decade as we judge the 1960s,’ he says, taking breath from his outrage for a sip of coffee in the contemporary glass cafe overlooking the tombs of Capt Bligh (of the mutiny) and of the Tradescants. The 17thcentury royal gardeners travelled widely, bringing home plants never seen before, and transformed our horticultural knowledge. It is the presence of the Tradescants’ tomb that explains why there is a museum devoted to gardening history squashed between the embankment, Lambeth Palace and busy thoroughfares—with no garden in sight. Now, the museum and its plans to green the area are threatened.
Denne historien er fra January 20, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra January 20, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
