Thursday 21 June 2012

A Complicated Knot


“…she had wept on remembering that, as a prisoner there [the Tower of London], she had not even been allowed to walk in the garden”.


 Elizabeth the 1st had sought refuge in gardens all her life. Knowing this, the two most powerful men in Elizabethan England, Lord Dudley and William Cecil, set out to woo the Queen by building the most fantastic gardens ever seen. Marriage to the Queen would give Dudley the prestige and wealth he craved, while Cecil sought the Queen’s steadfast commitment to his political strategy.
                    
Queen Elizabeth 1

Trea Martyn in her book “Elizabeth in the Garden” describes the magnificent gardens and the attendant intrigue, passion, rivalry, libel and deception. Throw in an execution or two and an upstart French suitor and garden making starts to look like a perilous venture.

Lord Dudley is thought to have spent the equivalent of 15 million dollars on improvements to the castle and gardens at Kenilworth. He was all about show. The festivities for Elizabeth’s nineteen day visit in 1575 were designed to excite and entertain.
It could be considered an early form of theme park.


Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester

William Cecil
In contrast, William Cecil understood Elizabeth’s need for refuge and respite. He designed the garden at Theobolds as a safe haven and balm for a weary soul. For all that it was still lavish, covering seven acres with orchards and hunting grounds beyond. He also appealed to her knowledge of plants by scouring the world for the new and unusual. 

 Trea Martyn gives a comprehensive account of each garden, the history of garden design to that point, the influence of French and Italian landscapes, describes other royal gardens of the period and provides information on the plants. All of which I found fascinating.

Enough biographical information is provided to allow one to ponder the character of the individuals and the nature of their relationships.

More difficult to follow were the political and historical events. They were not kept in chronological order which I found unnecessarily convoluted.

I finished the book wishing I could have walked in those gardens however I wouldn’t have enjoyed the fear of losing my head on a royal whim. Would I like an Elizabethan garden, not on that scale! I wouldn’t mind a knot garden, the shape outlined in lavender, hyssop and thyme, as described in the book.

Both gardens have been lost over time. Recently the one at Kenilworth has been recreated from an eye witness account.
Recreated Garden


Recreated Garden


Aviary, Kenilworth Castle

William Cecil’s handwritten description of his garden at Theobolds is still in existence at Hatfield House..

Hatfield Old Palace with Knot Garden. Childhood home of Elizabeth 1

I enjoyed this book and will refer to it when designing my new garden. If you like a linear flow of information, however, it may become a frustrating read. Purists may take exception to scenes that drift into imaginative re-creation.

Posted for the Garden Book meme hosted by Roses and Other Gardening Joys.

20 comments:

  1. Oh, I want to read this book! Thank so much for joining in and bringing this book to my attention. I would love to read and imagine, and then plan, just as you're doing. I think William Cecil's garden would be the kind I would personally prefer. Too bad it is not recreated, although the recreated garden at Kenilworth looks magnificent!

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    1. William Cecil's garden was my favourite too. Apparently he had a true love of gardening. His son also created a beautiful garden at Hatfield.

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  2. Thank you for an excellent book review. I think I would really enjoy this book. Even though history is not my thing, I do love reading about gardens and especially English gardens!

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    1. Thank you. English gardens is one of the things I truly miss now I am living in Canada.

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  3. How I wish I could be wooed with wonderful gardens! Thank you for reviewing this book - it looks very interesting and I'm going to take a look at it.

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    1. It wasn't until you mentioned it that I thought about what it would be like to be wooed in such a fashion. I will be mentioning it to my husband.

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  4. I really enjoyed this post and loved all the historical facts - Elizabeth is a favourite heroine of mine - will definitely give the book a read if I come across it in the future.

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    1. I felt a great deal of sympathy for Elizabeth after reading this book. Cecil comes across as an honourable man except for one terrible incident for which E. never forgave him. Personally I wouldn't trust Dudley but Elizabeth did.

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  5. You melded my 2 fav subjects, gardening and history in your wonderful review. I love the pictures that gave me a great view of the book. I do love the formality of these gardens but just not the upkeep...a book I will have to acquire for a nice uninterrupted read to get through the non-linear history :)

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    1. I love being in really old gardens. I try to get a sense of the people who worked in them. You may know that in England, gardening was taken so seriously there were laws against stealing plants.

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  6. I love knot gardens, and this book seems to illustrate them so beautifully. They have a special charm. Thanks for the review of this book.

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    1. Were they originally meant to depict lover's knots? I have to look up the history on these:)

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  7. Thank you for bringing this book to our attention! SOunds very interesting.

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    1. I'm always looking for books that have gardens in them but are not about gardening per se. I'd like to find a really good garden mystery.

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  8. This sounds like an interesting read but the historical hopping around would drive me crazy. I find knot gardens too linear and tight but they're always interesting to walk through. I love the English cottage gardens that are a bit carefree and chaotic. I probably would have ended up beheaded!

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    1. I prefer chaotic but I'm thinking of a tiny herb knot garden by the backdoor. I'm very nervous about the beheading thing, I have no patience with work place game playing and have difficulty keeping my mouth shut.

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  9. I love reading about history and these characters were amazing - I also love the symbology of plants.... when loose tongues could cost you your life then carefully chosen bouquet of flowers could convey a simple message :-)
    A small knot garden by the back door would be lovely!

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    1. The meaning attached to plants seems to have been significant right through to Victorian times. We seem to have found other ways to communicate but not nearly so stimulating to the senses.

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  10. Hi Susan, I'm not crazy about knot gardens either, but I didn't know the first Liz was a gardening fan, and I love the idea of being wooed by suitors competing by designing gardens. Sounds a very interesting book. cheers, catmint

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  11. I was surprised to see knot gardens in ancient Indian forts. I think they were invented by the Moghuls.

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