< Back Rose Garden Rose Garden Artist Name 00:00 / 02:15 Narrator: An old brick pillar is topped by a stone ball. It is an eye-catching feature on this curiously shaped wall - known as the Irishman’s Shirt. Bryan Hewitt will explain how it acquired its unusual name, after Bowles brought the Tudor pillar back here from nearby Gough Park. Bryan Hewitt: it was about eight or nine feet tall and was diamond shaped as seen from above and had some wonderful brickwork with very fine lines of cement which Mr Bowles greatly admired and Bowles said “yes, I’d like that and we can put it up in the garden!”. So it was sawn in half somehow and it was bought here by a horse and cart … And it was erected where you see it here to this day and Bowles capped it with a stone ball and he noticed when it was completed that the ball looks as if it wants to roll to the left as seen from one side and looked at from the right it looks as if it wants to roll to the other side. He went up it with a ladder and checked it with a spirit level and to his surprise it is absolutely square on that plinth, and it is simply an optical illusion caused by the diamond shape of the pillar. And Bowles…added a wall and a summerhouse, all built from reclaimed materials – bricks, columns, the tiles on the floor – and then beyond, heading east, the other wall and then it turned right with the wall and headed south a couple of feet and finished it with that wonderful serpentine brickwork that you see. And he called the whole thing the Irishman’s Shirt, because he’d heard a tale of a cheeky Irish tinker who’d knocked on a kindly old lady’s door and asked her if she’d be so kind as to sew a shirt onto his button… Narrator: Bowles grew many tender plants in the bed on the southern, sheltered, side of the wall - in the hope that they would survive the winter. To this day the gardeners at Myddelton use this area to experiment with growing unusual and exotic pants.

< Back Victorian Conservatory Victorian Conservatory Artist Name 00:00 / 01:36 Bowles kept seawater tanks in the Victorian conservatory. He filled them with seaweed, sea urchins and fish. Each week the seawater was changed. It came from barrels that were brought by rail to the local station. Bowles also kept rocks and minerals inside the conservatory. – He collected many of these during his plant hunting expeditions. You can still see some of them in there, [OU1] along with other curiosities. - There is a carved stone, which came from the old St Paul’s Cathedral that burnt down in the Great Fire of London. And there is an 18th century lead cistern that Bowles used to hold rainwater for his fern collection.[OU2] These objects are just an example of the numerous items that Bowles brought to Myddelton, to add interest and variety to his garden. You will come across many more as you explore the grounds. Let’s hear from Wesley Kerr, the chairman of the Heritage Lottery Fund committee: Wesley Kerr : Myddleton house, very much, in its 4 acres embodies that idea of the genius of place. The water courses, the rocks, the hills in the distance, the mansion. But it’s also a cabinet of curiosities of architectural ornaments like the old market cross, the ancient walls, the Irishman’s shirt, the outbuildings and they all move to a forefront at different times of the year when the planting near them makes you look at them.

< Back Stable Block Stable Block Artist Name 00:00 / 01:50 The Visitors’ Centre was one of two of Myddelton’s Carriage Houses - where the estate’s horse-drawn carriages were kept. – Inside, you can still see some of the building’s original flagstone and herringbone flooring, and the running boards that stopped the carriage wheel hubs from damaging the wall. The Carriage House was just one of the buildings that formed the Stable Block. It was built at around the same time as the main house, in the early 19thcentury. The horses were kept here – in stalls to the left of the Carriage House. A harness room, feeders, troughs, and a hay-loft were all located here, behind the central arch. When Bowles first got a car, in the mid 1930s, the carriages were sold and the horses were put out to pasture in the fields behind. The clock over the central doorway dates from 1826. Every quarter of an hour it lets out a distinctive chime. For many years this was the sound that helped to regulate the lives of the people who worked here. It reminded them when they could take a break, when they had to get back to their duties, and when their day’s work was done. But this was no ordinary clock. The firm that made it - Thwaites and Reed - also made clocks for Westminster Abbey, Ely Cathedral, and the Horse Guards Parade. The clock was renovated and put back in working order in the mid 1990s. Every eight days someone has to climb up the clocktower stairs to wind it up by hand. You might like to listen out for its chime as you wander through the gardens.

< Back Introduction from Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles Introduction from Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles Artist Name 00:00 / 01:58 Hello, I am Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles. I would like to welcome you to Myddelton House and the gardens created by my great, great uncle, E.A. Bowles. Even in his lifetime this was recognised as one of the country’s most important gardens - for its interesting and exotic plants, and because of my great great-uncle’s passionate dedication to horticulture. People came from across the country and beyond to visit and admire the plants that grew here. On his death in 1954 he was described the greatest gardener of the first half of the 20th century. He liked to share his knowledge and discoveries and over 50 bulbs, flowers and shrubs were named after him. – He was a member of the Royal Horticultural Society, and served as its vice-president for over 25 years. He wrote a number of books about the garden. These give a vivid account of his thoughts and practises. But Myddelton House Gardens were not just important for people who already had an interest in plants. Bowles did a lot for the local community and for local children, whom he encouraged to come and help him working in the gardens. After EA Bowles died, and the house was sold, the gardens fell into a state of disrepair. Today they are being restored to their former glory, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of the E. A. Bowles of Myddelton House Society, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority- the owners of the gardens, a team of gardeners, and with help from Heritage Lottery Funding. Once again, this is a place where people can come to research and learn, to see an important collection of plants, and to wander round in beautiful surroundings. I do hope you enjoy your visit to this unique garden

< Back 14. Rock Garden 14. Rock Garden Artist Name 00:00 / 01:19 Narrator: The Rock Garden was Bowles’ favourite place to spend time, as Bryan Hewitt explains: Bryan Hewitt: The rock garden, … was an area he looked after himself personally. He knew it intimately and he knew even when he was blind he could still take you to where he knew a plant would be growing and he’d know what state of growth it would be in as well. … When the weather was good he’d be out there until four o’clock; and that’s why he had his ashes scattered in the rock garden, because it was his favourite part of the garden. Narrator: Bowles started work on the Rock Garden when he was in his early 20s. It was his first venture into garden design. Later, he wrote about it. Voice of Bowles: It is a Rock Garden but by no means an alpine garden, for though alpine plants have a first choice of place I have always been ready to plant any bush or even tree in it.

< Back More on the Alpine Meadow More on the Alpine Meadow Artist Name 00:00 / 01:14 Narrator: Bowles once wrote: Voice of Bowles: I would give anything possible in the shape of toil and thought, even putting up with such evils as dirty nails and worn-out garments to achieve even a quarter of an acre of such a meadow as those I rushed past in the autobus on the outskirts of Predazzo in the Italian Dolomites. Narrator: Bowles collected grasses that were suitable for his Alpine Meadow. This was at a time before grasses were popular in gardens, but Bowles appreciated them for their dramatic possibilities: their height and their movement. He referred to: Voice of Bowles: “tall flowering stems, delightfully light and elegant, which appear in July and last until spring… MUSIC: (Reprise) Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses Levasseur establish and run under the next paragraph and Voice. Narrator: In the house, during the winter months Bowles filled vases with displays of dried grasses. His housekeeper, Alice, was not so keen. And whenever she had a chance, she threw the dust-gathering stems away. This irritated Bowles, who complained: Voice of Bowles: “Alice has been at it again!”

< Back 1. Front Lawn 1. Front Lawn Artist Name 00:00 / 01:39 The stone garden was first created in the 1920s. Local lads - who were known as Bowles Boys - collected the round stones that decorate the bed. They loaded them on to wheelbarrows at nearby Maiden’s Brook, and trundled them back here. A limestone column was placed here to add height and a bit of sculptural variety to the bed. To compliment the column, Bowles had the fossilised Araucaria, or Monkey Puzzle tree positioned beside it. The tree is ancient. It dates from the Cretaceous Period – around 250 million years ago. It is believed it was discovered in the early nineteen hundreds, when they were excavating the King George V Reservoir. Whatever its origins, it is certainly the oldest tree in the garden. The carved stone water trough came from an old blacksmith’s forge in Forty Hill. For many years it served as the block riders used to dismount when they came to have their horses’ hooves shod. Bowles brought the trough here in the 1930s, after his brother, Sir Henry, closed the forge down. The stone garden suffered badly during the great storm of 1987.

< Back 13. Alpine Meadow 13. Alpine Meadow Artist Name 00:00 / 02:22 Bryan Hewitt: …the alpine meadow was inspired by Mr Bowles’s trips to the Pyrenees. He used to go when his hay fever would be at its worst in the summer and he’d go away for about a fortnight or when the air was purer. His staff had a bit of a holiday around about that time as well; it was a break for them. In the Alps he’d see these wonderful fields of bulbs of crocuses, of daffodils, of fritillarias and he brought these plants back with him. Narrator: Following a trip to the mountains in June 1909, Bowles wrote: Voice of Bowles: As I had never been among Alpine meadows at that time of year, I soon forgot the rain and cared nothing about how wet my feet were getting: for all the meadows are like the gayest gardens, with lovely wild flowers of all the colours imaginable. Narrator: It was after his father died, in 1918, that Bowles began to put into place long held plans for a meadow below the Rock Garden. He planted a sequence of flowers that seemed to grow as naturally in the grass here, as they did in the mountains. Leucojums, or snowflakes, and snowdrops were the first to appear, followed by Scilla bithynica, crocuses and early daffodils. As summer advanced, camassias, hyacinths and wild geraniums covered the meadow with a cloud of blue. After Bowles died the Alpine Meadow suffered from neglect. Spring bulbs still put on a brave show. Many of the crocuses he brought back escaped into the lawn and into some of the other beds. But bamboos took over much of the area. Soon after restoration work began the bamboos were cut down. They revealed an unexpected sight: a purple flowering plant with no leaves, called Lathraea clandestina , or Purple Toothwort. Bowles had encouraged it to grow here. You can see some Purple Toothwort if you take a look at the roots of the maple tree growing in the Rock Garden.

< Back School of Pharmacy and the Royal Free Hospital School of Pharmacy and the Royal Free Hospital Artist Name 00:00 / 00:51 Image Credit: The son of Libereso Guglielmi near the poppy beds in the Pharmacy Garden. Guglielmi collection. Narrator: After Bowles died in 1954, the estate was sold to the School of Pharmacy and the Royal Free Hospital. The Kitchen Garden was turned into a medicinal garden for teaching and research. A comprehensive collection of plants was propagated and grown here. These provided live material for undergraduate research. The western end of the Potting Shed, which is now the gardeners’ rest room, was converted into a laboratory. From here plant material was delivered to the School of Pharmacy in London. The whole operation was kept secret because a number of poisons and drugs – including cannabis - were grown here. For 48 years this was the site of important research into pain relief.

< Back Alfred Swatton & The Kitchen Gardens Alfred Swatton & The Kitchen Gardens Artist Name 00:00 / 01:40 When Alfred Swatton came to Myddelton House from Kew Gardens, he and his family lived in Augustus Lodge, just outside the Kitchen Garden. Swatton worked here as head gardener for over 40 years – despite the fact that he and Bowles did not always see eye to eye. Once a week Bowles would walk down into the Kitchen Garden for an update on how things were going. Fruit and veg weren’t the only things that were grown here: cut flowers were also grown in the Kitchen Garden. These were picked for the house, and for the local Church, where Bowles was churchwarden for many years. Cornflowers and Gladiolus were favourites, but there was also a large bed of white trumpeted, regal lilies. One gardener, Charlie Smith, remembered that Bowles always made a point of stopping to sniff the lilies . He would walk on, totally unaware that they had left his nose a pollen stained orange colour. There used to be two vast compost heaps in the kitchen garden: one for fresh material and one for mature material. In winter it was not unusual to see four frozen gardeners standing in the steaming mature heap, warming their feet

< Back 7. Lunatic Asylum and Hollow Lawn 7. Lunatic Asylum and Hollow Lawn Artist Name 00:00 / 02:14 Narrator: When Bowles was young a vast clump of evergreens occupied this area. It was the sort of planting you might see in a London square. Laurels grew here. In showery weather they gave off a smell that reminded Bowles of dirty dog. Spotted Aucubas and Privet also grew here. Bowles thought it was all quite dismal, so he had the mass of greenery cleared away and blocks of Kentish ragstone were put down to form two rocky mounds and irregularly shaped beds. The idea was that this would be his Japanese garden. – And some cherries and bamboos were planted. But before he developed the theme any further, Bowles decided Japanese-style gardens had become too fashionable. He was put off the idea when giant toads, pagodas and jingling glass bird-scarers were all the rage at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Great Spring Show. Despite his misgivings, the Wisterias and Magnolias that grow around here still give this area a Japanese feel at times. MUSIC: fade in and run under from ‘some strange and abnormal plans By the time Bowles gave up on the idea of a Japanese garden, he had acquired the corkscrew Hazel you can see growing here. It was given to him by Canon Ellacombe. Some strange and abnormal plants were discovered by Bowles himself. These included a pigmy form of Elder. Another, the Plymouth Strawberry, was a variety of woodland strawberry that was first described in the 17thcentury. You can also see Hedgehog Holly, or curly leaved holly, growing here. In his book My Garden in Spring , Bowles wrote: Voice of Bowles : The freaks have increased in number and are now under the protection of the cherries and bamboos. Narrator: As a result of growing these gnarled, twisted and unusual plants, this area of the garden became known as the Lunatic Asylum. MUSIC FADE UP ON MUSIC and OUT.

< Back Restoration Work Restoration Work Artist Name 00:00 / 01:34 Narrator: Near the potting shed door you can see a brick inscribed with the date, 1859, and the initials of an early head gardener, George Hyde. In 2009, Heritage Lottery funding paid for restoration work on the potting shed, a Peach House and the cold frames that once stood here. It was while they were carrying out research for this project that members of the E A Bowles of Myddelton House Society discovered the original drawings for the trellis panels on the nearby wall. Bryan Hewitt explains: Bryan Hewitt: There was not much left of the trellis at all, but the brick columns were still there and they were covered in a canopy of an old rose and an Akebia quinata from Japan, a climber, which had sort of crushed it and covered it over. And all this area was cleared and for a time we had these five stark red brick pillars with nice capping stones on and that was all. And in Mr Bowles’ scrapbook was found the plan that he’d drawn up himself of the beautiful design of the trellis as he had it in his time. Narrator The Society funded their restoration to these original designs. The potting shed has been faithfully restored and now houses the gardening team’s rest room, a viewable potting area and an archive room.