The Batsford book profiles gardens ranging from Margery Fish's at East Lambrook (which is for sale) back to Capability Brown.
The theme is the work of the charity, which does valuable work protecting designed landscapes. Unforgettable Gardens was a 2020-23 celebration devised by the Trust's Linden Groves (who writes about Wicksteed Park), of historic gardens and the threats to them.
Susannah Charlton is editor and there's a long list of around 50 contributors, including Scotney gardener Andrea Bennett, landscape historian Annabel Downs, ex-RHS librarian Brent Elliott, Gardens Trust's Linden Groves, authors Catherine Horwood and Tim Richardson, Gardens Trusts' chair (until September 2024) Peter Hughes (a former judge who says the Trust's role has "never been more important"), Parks Trusts' David Lambert, Parks Management Association chair Paul Rabbitts and English Heritage's John Watkins. There's five longer essays, one per century, 16th to 20th.
The book's design differs from the classic Batsford book painted cover design, favouring plenty of illuminating pictures. The idea is to convince readers to visit more of these places.
There's bound to be a chapter you have a personal connection with. Usual suspects Kew, Castle Howard, Wrest Park and Dixter sit alongside lesser-lauded places such as Preston's Avenham Park and East London's Abney Park Cemetery. Highgate is not included, nor are Stourhead and Sissinghurst. The remit was to cover the centuries, with brevity, and accuracy. Gardens need to be extant and open to the public. There's some fairly unknown gardens. Visit them before they get 'trustified'.
Elliott manages a potted history of Abney is just two pages, including a mention of "20th century neglect", which actually lends the cemetery its charm as a wild woodland. Let's hope it's never restored.
For Avenham, Lambert gives a history of the designer, Edward Milner, and the features, such as the bandstand, as well as the style (mid-Victorian picturesque ideal), a bit of history of parks' development and recent lottery-funded renovations. Oasis played there in 1994, for free, showing the multi-functional value of these spaces and how that develops over time, something this book celebrates memorably. I look forward to volume two, and regional editions.
