TheThousand Year Garden

A long history lies behind the garden at Lambeth Palace in South London

Lambefh Palace in South London is not a major tourist magnet, but discerning tourists come to seeit its ten acre garden, originating, we think, in 1137 For nigh on a millennium. it has It quietly gone about its business brightening the lives of Londoners and feeding them as well played a minor role in establishing new species in Britain and has seen a steady procession of skillful gardeners come and go. How long will lt last? Another thousand or more, we hope.

Photo courtesy of Manfredkichter, of pixabay

An ancient site.

This is a short book written in a concise style, very easy to read,but informative. The author has the honour of being head gardener of this ancient site, which he tends with care. The garden is not primarily an archaeological site and no buildings survive from the Anglo Saxon period, whence if has its origins, but in dry periods in summer faint traces 8n the landscape hint that earthen memories lurk sileny below.

Lambeth Palace is not a,royal palace,,but is the official residence of the archbishop. of Canterbury, the senior archbishop of the Anglican communion. The archbishop needed a residence. near. the capital city, so Lambeth became his working base. A garden came with the palace. .The palace and garden were built on an ancient Saxon site.the precise age is unknown, but it probably goes back to.the later years of the first Millennium when there was a small religious site. In the eleventh century the garden came into the hands of Goda, the sister of the defeated .and slain king Harold,and then after the Norman conquest to the hands of either monks or nuns. It was at that time substantially larger than it is today. The wider garden was then used partly for farming and also for gardening. Wooden structures were erected on site and it is possible to discern their traces when the ground is dry over summers.

The book is not written in a conventional academic style, though it is well researched and skillfully written. The style is light and popular and easy for general readers to handle, They contain historical material, but it is not presented in chronological sequence and it follows the author's train of experience.

Conclusion

Many gardens have a magic to them, each to their own ability to enchant visitors, every garden is unique, but a thousand year old garden retains an aura of .its own,. The enchantment of time endows the garden with a special aura. We cannot easily explain will it survive another thousand years. I do not know, but beautiful places are oft threatened by capitalists endeavouring to turn them into car parks. The price of beauty is perpetual vigilance.

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