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Lytham Hall is a Grade I listed building set in lovely parkland, which is Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
This LGT visit is arranged to coincide with the flowering of the wonderful collection of snowdrops. Snowdrops have been growing around houses since the sixteenth century. Formerly they would have been
carefully tended by the gardeners, but over the centuries their offspring have increased to produce the wonderful collections we see in gardens today. In the early seventeenth century the snowdrop was referred to as the 'bulbous violet'. John
Gerard in his Herbal of 1597 referred to the snowdrop as 'Galanthus', but it was in his revised edition of 1633 that reference is made to the 'snowdrop'. The first of the fifteen or so species was given the name nivalis, which means 'growing near
snow'.
William Robinson (1838-1935) in his Wild Garden (1870), comments on the 'naturalisation' of snowdrops. He advocated that other exotic and hardy plants be planted where they may take care of themselves. He
suggests planting on the outer borders of the lawn, grove, park, copse, woodland walk, or drive. The beauty of the species added a 'picturesque' interest to the garden in its flowering time. His writing on the wild garden was reproduced in a
chapter in his The English Flower Garden (1883) which went into 15 editions in his lifetime. It was revolutionary, at a time when great estates were planting mainly tender plants and annuals massed in beds for seasonal effect.
Welcoming us to this event will be John Miller, Chief Executive Heritage Trust for the North West, who has been very supportive of the Lancashire Gardens Trust and is managing the future developments at
Lytham Hall. Also as our guest at this event will be Alan Ashton, founder and President of Lytham Town Trust and founder and Chairman of Lytham Heritage Group.
Programme
Meeting at Lytham Hall, Lytham at 10. 30 am Tuesday 23rd February 2010. Directions and details of parking will be sent on receipt of booking form.
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10.30 am Coffee/tea/biscuits
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11.00 am Welcome by John Miller, Chief Executive Heritage Trust for the North West
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11.15 am Ruth Thurnhill will give an illustrated talk on current research on the garden at Lytham Hall
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Nigel Neil Archaeological Consultant to Heritage for the North West will talk about the excavations so far, and proposals for 2010
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12.30 pm Lunch of soup/sandwiches/coffee/tea
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Lunch will be followed by a tour of significant areas of research including visits to the Mount and privy. Woodland walks at leisure
Please note that stout shoes or Wellingtons and warm clothing are required
Member tickets £ 14 and non-member tickets are £16
DOWNLOAD FULL DETAILS AND BOOKING FORM
(pdf file)
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