Issue 38 Summer web 23 - Flipbook - Page 91
Jekyll, the first woman to be awarded the Royal
Horticultural Society’s Victoria Medal of Honour – the
highest award for British horticulturists – once said of
Munstead Wood: “My garden is my workshop, my private
study and place of rest.”
writing, the hub of her garden design and nursery business and
had a huge influence on garden design and planting not just in
Britain but internationally.”
Andy continued: “Munstead Wood continues to showcase
Jekyll’s signature naturalistic design, her bold use of colour and
innovative use of everyday plants. There is no greater example
of a classic English garden.”
Her garden was a place of experimentation, particularly
in the innovative use of colour in her planting. She
designed areas to flower in different seasons and laid out
a woodland garden which remains a fine example of her
approach to artistic ‘wild gardening’. She also collected
plants in Britain and Europe and introduced at least 30
new varieties into British gardens.
In the coming months the Trust will be developing its
plans for Munstead Wood, with more detail to follow in
due course.
For more information and to find out how to support
Munstead Wood visit
nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey/munstead-wood-project-updates
With support from HM Government, the conservation
charity acquired Munstead Wood when it came up for
private sale in order to secure it for public enjoyment and
benefit. The Trust will now work with the community and
partners to find the best ways to open it to visitors, but
this will be dependent on raising funds to help restore and
reimagine the garden and house.
Below, Munstead Wood-48 The west front, Munstead Wood house.
National Trust Images,Megan Taylor
Some of Jekyll’s original planting survives at Munstead
Wood, particularly in the woodland garden. The formal
paths, walls and pond near the house, designed for Jekyll
by Edwin Lutyens, remain intact, and Jekyll’s innovative
rock garden was recently rediscovered buried under layers
of garden debris.
The garden was simplified in the 1950s but subsequent
owners restored Jekyll’s design and planting. A remarkable
aspect of the garden is the wealth of documentary
evidence in photographs, planting plans, paintings and
written descriptions, capturing the appearance and the
spirit of the garden and offering the archival basis of an
authentic restoration.
Hilary McGrady, Director General of the National Trust
said: “I’m delighted that we have had the opportunity to
acquire this special place, which has such strong connections
to garden and building design history. The survival of both
house and garden offers an extraordinary chance to tell the
story of the house and garden, and Jekyll’s enormous impact,
inspiring a new generation of gardeners and nature lovers.
“Jekyll changed the way we think about garden design and
created more gardens than ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry
Repton combined. It’s difficult to overstate the importance of
this seminal garden.”
Hilary continued: “Fundraising to support the future of
Munstead Wood has begun and we’re grateful to have already
received some generous commitments to help.”
Andy Jasper, Head of Gardens and Parklands at the
National Trust, said: “Munstead Wood is not only a rare
surviving example of Jekyll’s work, it is also the garden where
she developed and clearly expressed her ideas, and the
birthplace of her rich collaboration with Sir Edwin Lutyens. It
was the source of the planting experiments she described in her
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