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HERITAGE VOLUNTEERS
The Walled Garden Project at Luton Hoo
It was ten years ago in 2001 that I made my first visit to the Walled Garden. On a very hot, sunny June morning a small group led by Oonagh Kennedy walked through waist high grass and nettles. The ruined buildings looked as though they were relying on the brambles to keep them upright. It was a silent and forlorn world.
I had been asked if members of HADFAS could research the history of the walled garden with a view to aiding its future restoration. As I left, I was intrigued but also alarmed. I knew nothing about garden history, I had never researched anything like this before and I am certainly not a gardener. During the following weeks I set up the project with the help of specialists at NADFAS House, but I did frequently ask myself “What am I doing?”
We held out first volunteer meeting in September 2001. None of us knew what to expect, but Oonagh worked extremely hard with us and we gradually got into our stride. It has proved to be a fascinating journey. We have all made friends and developed new interests, as well as finding ourselves doing things we never expected to do. I never thought I would spend cold hours in a cowshed as part of a group cleaning our way through two hundred blacksmiths tools or be covered in dust cleaning marble with cuttlefish. We now have great pride in showing our tool display to visitors and opening up the dairy for tour groups. All the hard work is now a fond memory which we often laugh about.
Land Girls at Luton Hoo©Luton News
I was warned at the beginning that one of the problems with this type of project was that the material we gathered would sit somewhere on a library shelf. I am glad to say that so far it hasn’t. We have put together a history of the estate up to 1945. Oonagh has developed lectures from the material and spoken to many groups in Herts., Beds. and Bucks. We have used it for study days, tours around the garden for visiting societies and as the basis of a guide book. We are discovering more information all the time. It is like doing a jigsaw puzzle that just gets bigger and more complicated with every new piece. The most amazing information has come to light. A huge amount of work has been done by the gardening volunteers and the conservation group and the weeds have mostly been tamed, while some of the glass houses are now cleared and in use again. Skill and energy has gone into creating a beautiful garden, so do take the opportunity to visit if you have the time. It is no longer uncared for!
Pat Livesey
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