gardens: warwickshire
Much ado about
SOMETHING PHOTOGRAPHS JANE SEBIRE | WORDS STEPHANIE MAHON
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Indulge yourself in the fantasy of all things English at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage & Gardens - Shakespeare in a chocolate-box setting
The Willmott Garden at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens, dedicated to the Edwardian gardener who first designed the cottagestyle planting.
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gardens: warwickshire RIGHT Each summer, the path to the cottage comes alive with colour and scent from the 38 varieties of sweet peas on display. BELOW LEFT Evergreen toparised shapes demarcate the borders from the path by the front of the cottage. BELOW RIGHT One of two new giant willow sculptures created by award-winning artist Tom Hare.
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kiss in a lovers’ seat surrounded by scented herbs; a flirtatious chase through the orchard; some pinch and tickle among the poppies. We can really only guess what happened in the wooing of Anne Hathaway by William Shakespeare. But we know she lived at her family’s farmhouse in Shottery before they married, and that she was with child when they tied the knot - so it is reasonable to presume their courtship involved a tumble in the meadows. A bit of a cougar at almost 10 years older than Will, Anne was the daughter of a prosperous farmer, while he was the son of a glover who had fallen on hard times. Once wed, Anne remained behind in Stratford and raised their three children, while Will made his name in London. He spent a portion of each year back home with his family, at their house nearby at New Place, to where he eventually retired. Anne’s childhood home, a thatchroofed, timber-framed affair built
in the 15th century, was handed down through the Hathaway family until the 1840s. Then it was sold to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, the independent charity that still maintains the site today, and also looks after four other Shakespeare heritage properties in the town. The farmhouse, now a museum called Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, is a chocolate-box house without compare - the perfect representation of ye olde Englishness, packaged with a rambling floriferous garden, for the many thousands of people who come each year to experience a piece of history for themselves. Before visiting, I will admit I worried that the whole place might be a sort of Disneyland for Bard lovers, and the Nine-acre garden garden not much to where Shakespeare mention. But what wooed his wife a pleasant surprise it was to find no garish signage and, in fact, a real horticultural integrity. Gardens
GARDEN NOTES
The perfect representation of ye olde Englishness, packaged with a rambling floriferous garden, for the many thousands of people who come each year
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the english garden February 2014
is the perfect backdrop to the cottage for visitors’ photos, meaning the memories of an enjoyable visit can be kept and shared when they return home. It’s nice to be able to create something that becomes part of people’s memories.’ These cottage-planting beds have been renamed The Willmott Garden in dedication to the Edwardian horticulturist Ellen Willmott. She remodelled the garden in the early 20th century after a new sewer was laid across the cottage grounds. She was a strong character and quite a force to be reckoned with - a privileged, plant-mad spinster who turned her hand to photography and woodwork, and liked to boobytrap her daffodil beds against bulb thieves. She funded plant hunters’ trips abroad and bought huge amounts of stock from her favourite nurserymen, leading to many plants being named after her. Some of these, such as Syringa vulgaris ‘Miss Ellen Willmott’ can be found in her namesake garden. ▲
manager Nick Jackson has been working for the trust since 2007, having previously done stints with the National Trust and the Birmingham and Oxford Botanic Gardens. He and his team of eight run the five gardens attached to the trust’s properties across Stratford; they are helped in this rather daunting task by a group of volunteers. Since arriving, Nick has replaced tired bedding schemes with more varied planting, created new areas and reinvigorated the garden to make it an offering not just for tourists but for real gardeners too. As well as installing a woodland trail and a lavender maze, his main focus here has been the large swathes of cottage-garden planting in front of the house - a mass of late spring and early summer blooms including roses, delpiniums, aquilegias, foxgloves, echinops and hollyhocks. ‘The herbaceous display is quite something in the height of summer,’ Nick says. ‘The colours and variety of plants are a real pleasure to see. It
ABOVE RIGHT, FROM TOP Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum; pink Aquilegia vulgaris; an unknown blue-mauve delphinium with brown eyes.
LEFT, FROM TOP Sweetly scented honeysuckle; the biennial Verbascum ‘Jackie in Pink’; yellow Calendula officinalis. ABOVE RIGHT The herb garden. BELOW RIGHT The orchard of beautiful apples trees has been left to grow out as a meadow as part of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme for sustainability and wildlife.
Another stand-out feature, and Nick’s favourite part of the garden, is the sweet pea trail, in place from June to August. It encompasses the path to the cottage, which is lined with intermittent screens of hazel sticks, supporting 38 varieties of these colourful, climbing, scented beauties, all grown from seed using traditional methods. Everything in the gardens is done with respect to the property and its history, but a lack of information about exactly what was here before is a rather freeing thing for Nick and his team. They use organic and heritage methods of gardening, and old-time plants and flowers, to help inform visitors about Tudor life; but they also pursue more modern ideas, like the Environmental Stewardship Scheme, a landscape management programme. Plans for the future include the planting of trees mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets; and the development of a new winter garden on the site, since it is open all year round. But there is so much more here to consider. There are herb and vegetable areas, a woodland walk with sound installations, an orchard of heritage apple varieties and an arboretum with sculpture trail.
A butterfly meadow is being planted with scabious, campion, loosestrife, teasel and fleabane. And, of course, there is the museum inside the cottage, if you have the time. There is even a walking route from the house along the river into Stratford, for those who want to walk in the footsteps of a young Shakespeare, returning home with a spring in his step after passionate embraces with his lady love, Anne. Anne Hathaway’s Cottage & Garden, Shottery, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 9HH. Open all year, except Christmas & Boxing Days. Tel: +44 (0)1789 204016 or go to www.shakespeare.org.uk
gardens: warwickshire
Anne Hathaway’s notebook PERFECT PORTAL A path leads away from the main garden past the lavender maze to the woodland, at the entrance of which sits this living willow tunnel (below). Walk through it, over a bridge, to discover the Greenwood Singing Tree and the Music Trail; installations featuring music and a range of voices quoting lines from Shakespeare.
WHAT’S IN A NAME? Gardens manager Nick is working hard all the time to find and grow authentic plants from the garden’s many eras, but also to plant things that have a link to the garden. These include the sweet peas ‘Miss Willmott’ (above left) and ‘Anne Hathaway’ (above right) in reference to the two women most associated with the property.
GOING OLD SCHOOL
GARDEN CHALLENGES
The gardeners here are committed to using heritage methods and varieties in the garden, both for educational reasons and to get best results. A good example of this is the bird scarer (left) in the veg patch made from a potato and feathers, which twists in the wind on string. This is a truly Tudor method for keeping pests off the produce.
HISTORIC: Nick says his biggest challenge is keeping it interesting while still developing the gardens to the highest standard, yet keeping in mind the constraints that are associated with managing an historic garden.
ALSO IN THE AREA If you come to visit, Nick and the team at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage and Gardens also recommend these other local treats: ● PLACE TO VISIT Mary Arden’s Farm The house where Shakespeare’s mother grew up. See a whole array of Tudor herbs and get a flavour of what a Tudor garden would have been like. Closed until 17 March. Wilmcote, Nr Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 9UN. Tel: +44 (0)1789 204016. www.shakespeare.org.uk ● PLACE TO STAY The Welcombe Hotel, Spa and Golf Club A spot many people stay at locally. It has some very well-kept gardens. Warwick Rd, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 0NR. Tel: +44 (0)1789 295252. www.menzieshotels.co.uk
TOP TIPS FROM NICK JACKSON ● When growing sweet peas, deadhead on a regular basis to prolong the display, and don’t forget to feed the plants - here we use a liquid feed. ● Staking is crucial to a good herbaceous display. We avoid artificial plant supports and opt for more natural pea sticks and old tree branches, like hazel and lime (but never willow as it may root), which we place around the emerging crown growth in spring. ● Grow fragrant plants where people can stop and take the time to admire the perfume. It takes a lot of effort for a plant to flower, so as gardeners we should make an effort to discover where is best to grow and display such plants. ● Don’t be afraid to allow plants to grow into each other, as a true cottage-garden display has no formality to it. It has to look as natural as can be, so a jumble is the best way. We start the season with bulbs planted in large groups, bringing the garden to life a month early.
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