| Unit name | Women and Gardens |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ARCHM0118 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Emeritus Professor. Mowl |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Anthropology and Archaeology |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit will explore the roles that women have played in the development of gardens over the past 400 years. From the richest woman in England, Bess of Hardwick to the poorest weeder women who essentially kept the gardens going, the input of women has been a varied but often overlooked contribution in garden history. Traditionally, the domain of women in the garden has often been seen as only involving the ephemeral form of planting, rather than the substance of the structure. We shall investigate the validity of this theory. From royalty: Queen Caroline to the upper-class garden creators such as the Duchess of Portland, Lady Luxborough, Gertrude Jekyll, Norah Lindsay and Ellen Wilmott, and finally to the women who had to beat their own path in the early twentieth century: Madeline Agar, Brenda Colvin and Sylvia Crowe. We shall also look at the work of some of the less well-known names including Elizabeth Kent and Beatrix Havergal. In addition, the unit will investigate the input of women's literature and art as a valuable resource with contributions from Mary Delaney, Lady Paget, Beatrice Parsons, Eleanour Sinclaire Rohde and Avilde Lees Milne among others.
