Just before Christmas I posed a question for everyone, asking what you think make Charlton House Gardens unique. I had a good number of replies, and I’m pleased to report that most of you DO think they are unique! But I have had a real challenge trying to consolidate them into a single idea.
Here are just a few extracts from your replies:
- “The gardens are rooted in their sense of time and place, where you can imagine them as Jacobean gardens but where you can also see modern day planting. There is a passion and desire to keep these gardens relevant for future generations.”
- “The House is an architectural gem, whose early inhabitants played a significant role in the revolutions of the seventeenth century; today, the gardens are an oasis of beauty and peace in the midst of the urban sprawl of London.”
- “The gardens are small but contain as diverse and exciting planting as you might expect from a much larger space.”
- “The gardens are public but very community focused, beloved of local gardeners creating fabulous displays and running special events.”
- “Not unique, but certainly rare, in that they still have the atmosphere of the Jacobean age. Planting with a “nod” to the Jacobean era.”
- “An unexpected historic oasis in a desert of modern housing”
- “They play to a sense of history and yet have a contemporary design adapted to change of climate.”
- “Unique because they are community-run but following professional design principles.”
So, at then end of all that, let’s go with:
Charlton House Gardens: an historic oasis of beauty and peace in the midst of the urban sprawl of London, where local volunteer gardeners work together to ensure the gardens stay beloved and relevant for future generations.
If you can say it better, please let me know!
Visit Charlton and Blackheath Amateur Horticultural Society online.
