Gardens, parks and commons have experienced a blossoming of appreciation from city-dwellers, like myself, during the United Kingdom’s Covid-19 lockdown. My social networks were filled with images of proud amateur gardeners growing tomatoes on their balconies, lush suburban garden borders blooming to life or London parks bustling with picnickers and sun-seekers. As museums started to open their doors to visitors after the lockdown eased, it was apt, then, that the first I should have on my list was The Garden Museum. I had never visited previously, but enjoyed their posts on social media during lockdown, and was surprised to find they were located in central London. What could this urban Garden Museum offer a newbie garden fan, that didn’t really know her trowel from a trough?
Perhaps unexpectedly, the Garden Museum is situated in Lambeth, a short and pleasant 15 minute walk to the bank of the Thames opposite Westminster. It is based in the former St-Mary's-at-Lambeth Church, a grand, mainly Victorian, structure with fresh and complimentary modern extensions added during the museum’s renovations in 2017. As the museum’s website explains, the Church itself has strong connections to gardening history, containing in its grounds the rather spectacular tomb of John Tradescant – one of the first documented career gardeners.
Upon arriving, I entered through the cemetery and noted how well blended aspects of gardening and the original setting were. A modern glasshouse with exotic looking plants sat comfortably amongst the tombs dappled with moss. It was already an idyllic and calming setting, albeit within a busy part of London.
With safety restrictions in place, the entrance was relocated from the church doors to the modern café, which was bright and clean with a plenty of seating and a good menu on offer. The modern extension feels to be made entirely of glass, allowing indoor and outdoor spaces to blend seamlessly. Within the structure is a cosy open air courtyard containing a riotous display of lush plants. Seats were provided, and I enjoyed a pleasant and quiet lunch here.
My timed ticket included entry to the museum’s temporary exhibition, Derek Jarman: My garden's boundaries are the horizon. This was in a small suite of rooms on the ground floor of the church. With a crunchy shingle flooring, I was transported to the strange landscape of Dungeness, England. My review will focus mainly on the museum’s permanent exhibition, but it is worth noting how successfully this exhibition drew on matters of environmentalism, creativity, health and wellbeing through Jarman’s artworks, gardening notes, sketchbooks and films made in Dungeness. The displays were what one might expect to see at the Tate or the BFI, and so the mere presence of this exhibition was already challenging my perspective of gardening as a conservative and traditional activity. The display spilled out from the rooms into the main body of the church with large scale paintings by Jarman, creative shingle-filled seating on which to contemplate the catalogue and a touching display of Howard Sooley’s photography. This exhibition was an excellent catalyst for the remainder of the museum, which would continue to reveal gardening as an activity fecund with imaginative and creative potential.
The Garden Museum’s permanent displays are housed on a mezzanine floor, accessed via two staircases or a lift. Following the visitor directions, the exhibitions began with ‘Making Gardens’, a section devoted to gardening tools and equipment. A mix of familiar and strange instruments and machines, including a rather cute bird-scaring cat, were attractively displayed around a centerpiece shed.
What was particularly pleasing was how close one could get to these objects, which all have clear signs of use and wear from their ‘working lives’ prior to being exhibits. The exhibition itself felt like entering a gardener’s toolshed and prompted my own reminiscence of my grandfather’s garage, brimful of tools each with its own story of purpose, use and ownership. These objects could so easily be humdrum, and alien to a non-gardener like me, but through a rich display spanning centuries and object types, alongside pithy interpretation, there was something to offer the gardening expert and novice alike.
From here, the museum starts to build on our understanding of gardening as a field of design, with its own leading figures. Ephemera relating to influential gardeners, such as Gertrude Jekyll, are accompanied by short biographies revealing their approach to gardens, whether as places full of surprise, or as ‘living landscapes’ echoing works of art. The range of objects on display takes a dramatic shift from the shed contents displayed in ‘Making Gardens’, showing desks, notebooks and plan drawings – introducing me, knowing very little about gardening, to the more imaginative and theoretical aspect of the craft. A striking wall display filled with a variety of garden design images, including photos of Jarman’s garden, Tudor style knot patterns and even the Eden project plans, reveal the combination of strong knowledge on plants, soil and landscape with a creative flair required by skilled professional gardeners.
The last, and largest display, ‘In the Garden’ is dedicated to exploring the stories of gardens of all shapes and sizes, from the time of Tradescant in the 1600s to today. This space is divided into a variety of manageable displays on topics ranging from public parks to the creation of the gardening profession. Rather than an obviously chronological display, the topics seemed to be somewhat standalone but highly complementary to each other, which worked very well. This allowed one to dip in and out, whilst relaxing about not following the proper narrative, especially when avoiding getting too close to other visitors.
There was a strong use of artworks within some displays to compliment the history and understanding that was being unfolded of garden history. One particular painting, ‘Portrait of a black gardener’ (1905) by radical painter and gardener, Harold Gilman, was powerful enough on its own to prompt in an instant a new awareness of the presence of gardeners from ethnic minorities within gardening history. Others illustrated histories of private gardens, busy Victorian parks and bucolic scenes of London back gardens, offering a good mix of objects to consider, and the next best thing to a garden experience within the exhibition space.
Alongside these artworks were iconic garden accessories, including jolly gnomes, an early – and rather cute – pink flamingo, as well as classic garden games like croquet. Just as familiar for British audiences was the inclusion of ephemera relating to celebrity gardeners, including a photoshoot jumper belonging to grandmothers’ favourite TV gardener, Alan Titchmarsh. Few things on display failed to pique my interest or bring a smile to my face through their familiarity, quirkiness and the occasional bout of nostalgia. What I realised on reflection, however, was how these familiar objects had facilitated storytelling about less familiar aspects of gardening, such as womens’ contributions through history in the form of Ellen Ann Willmott’s story, and wartime gardening.
Indeed, I found on leaving this museum, small by the standard of London’s giant, sprawling institutions, I had enjoyed what felt like a comprehensive, yet digestible, history of the garden. Something I had once disregarded as a hobby for those with time on their hands, and gardens to weed, neither of which I could relate to, had been transformed, through the exhibits on display, into an artform with a history as rich, varied and vibrant as the most glorious of garden borders.
Lambeth Palace Road,
London, SE1 7LB
Tel: 020 7401 8865
Open Monday – Sunday 10.30am - 5.00pm
Open on bank holidays excluding Christmas Day and Boxing Day
Garden Café opening hours: Open everyday 10.30am – 5.30pm
From 14th August, serving lunch between 12pm – 3pm
Dinner served every Friday evening from 6pm
Tel: 0203 640 9322
Tickets must be booked in advance of your visit due to limited visitor numbers to maintain social distancing.
Adult: £10
Senior citizen: £8.50
Student/Unemployed/Art Pass: £5
Family (1 adult, 1 child): £12.50
Family (2 adults, 2 children): £25
Children under 6 years: Free
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Miriam Dafydd is an Assistant Curator at the Science Museum, working across all collections with a specialism in Art. Her research interest is museum community engagement, and its relationship with wider social and political issues across the UK.