The Gardens at Ham House
An artist’s book about the 17th century gardens at Ham House created in collaboration with garden historian Sally Jeffery. It was commissioned by the National Trust as part of the Garden of Reason programme in 2012.
Ham House Garden was created by Elizabeth Dysart, Duchess of Lauderdale, who was a member of the inner circle of King Charles II. The book provides a tour around the historic garden, exploring features of interest and illustrating some of the plants known to have grown in the garden in Elizabeth’s time. The illustrations use visual conventions from publications of the period including original plans and surveys and key horticultural texts such as John Parkinson’s Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris (London 1629) and Batty Langley’s New Principles of Gardening: Or, The Laying Out and Planting of Parterres, Groves, Wildernesses, Labyrinths, Avenues, Parks, etc (London, 1728).