Volunteers Page

Registration number 298861

We at Kent Gardens Trust need volunteers who are interested in gardens, horticulture, social and cultural  history, local history or archaeology to get involved and help support our work.

Tunbridge Wells Historic Gardens Project

We recently completed the Tunbridge Wells Historic Gardens Project to update records of parks and gardens in the borough.In 1992-6 a comprehensive register of parks and gardens in Kent (The Kent Gardens Compendium) was produced by KCC in conjunction with Kent Gardens Trust. This included parks and gardens of historic importance as well as those smaller gardens which were mainly of horticultural or amenity value. The survey of Historic Parks and Gardens in particular has been of great help to the planning authorities in Kent by identifying significant sites which should if possible be protected. The information it contains is in the process of being included in the National Parks and Gardens Database which is a joint project (funded by the Lottery) of the Association of Gardens Trusts and York University.

More than ten years on, the Compendium needed to be looked at again in order to

• Identify any additional sites which should be included
• Update entries in the light of recent research
• Check the maps and information given for accuracy and
• Review the condition of  sites and update the information in the Compendium

Kent Gardens Trust played a vital part in the project by recruiting and training a group of volunteers in the skills and techniques of researching and recording historic parks and gardens. You can read about the project on www.tunbridgewells.gov.uk/historicparksandgardens

Tunbridge Wells District Council obtained funding to carry out a review of the historic sites within its area.

Volunteers undertook much of the initial research, using maps, pictures and other records and their work was used by a professional garden historian to produce a comprehensive report and to update the information about public access and bibliographical references.

An interesting and thorough training was provided in techniques of historical research and recording and volunteers also benefitted from having their work supervised by experienced garden historians. Garden history involves many different areas of interest including social and cultural history, archaeology and horticulture.

The Trust has now been asked to review the records for Sevenoaks District and our team of volunteers is embarking on this new project which will involve researching and writing up 22 sites around Sevenoaks and describing in detail how the gardens appear today. Each report will be edited by an experienced garden historian to ensure consistency and the highest standards. Several new volunteers have joined the group who will be helped and mentored by the existing members and a training programme will begin with a day at Chiddingstone Castle in February 2011.

Kent Gardens Trust now has a group of trained volunteers who will be able to research and record more historic parks and gardens in Kent and provide advice to owners planning authorities with the aim of protecting our garden heritage for future generations. Other local authorities are interested in commissioning the Trust to undertake more research and recording work in their areas and we shall need volunteers to do this all over the county.

The Trust would like to enrol more volunteers who are interested in researching gardens and anyone who would like to get involved should contact us.

Home

Visit Historic Gardens in Kent

Events

Membership

Volunteers

Newsletter

Newsletter Archive

Contact us

Links