vineries, peach houses and pineries could be
heated more efficiently and cleanly. “The repeal
of the glass tax in 1845 and the invention of
cheap plate glass led to a proliferation of hot
houses,” Campbell says. Delicacies such as
forced asparagus and strawberries began
appearing on the Christmas table.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
The scarcity of labour and changing social
structures brought about by the Second World
War also meant the end of walled gardens as they
had been. Among the most beautiful was the
31-acre Royal Kitchen Garden at Windsor, which
Prince Albert designed for Queen Victoria in
- Sadly it is among those now abandoned. A
lack of formal records means experts aren’t able
to guess at the number of those that still exist or
that have been lost, but even the National Trust
admits to managing to restore just 30 of the 140
walled gardens in its care that need rescuing,
and runs the Walled Gardens Appeal in order
to help raise necessary funds.
Hearteningly, there are signs of a modest
revival, and the Walled Kitchen Garden Network
(walledgardens.net), was established to support
their renaissance. A number have been rescued
recently, including the magnificent 400-year-old
Easton Walled Gardens in Lincolnshire, derelict
for five decades. Bridgewater in Salford, a new
RHS site due to open in 2020, includes the
restoration of an 11-acre walled edible plot.
These spaces hold a special appeal: they have a
romance about them and offer a haven in which
to relax. “People like the feeling, in a walled
kitchen garden, of enclosure, safety, hiddenness,
shelter, warmth and calm,” Campbell says. Let’s
cherish those that remain and dig deep to help
the new generation f lourish.
Susan Campbell’s books include A History of
Kitchen Gardening (Unicorn) and Wa l led
Kitchen Gardens (Shire Librar y).LOOKING BACKOpposite page:
Jacobean drama – the
walled garden at Audley
End, recreated from
a gardener’s diary.
Clockwise from top left:
Churchill himself, laying
bricks for a wall at
Chartwell. The plants
of Queen Victoria’s
Osborne House on the
Isle of Wight are still
meticulously cared for;
pear arches at West
Dean Gardens, Sussex;
nothing like a subtle
and understated
garden building –
The Pineapple in
Dunmore, Scotland