A lecture on the Restoration of Shakespeare’s Garden

In the second annual National Gardens Scheme Lecture Sir Roy Strong will talk about the history and restoration of Shakespeare's Garden.

This year sees the opening of a revamp of the garden on the site of Shakespeare's house; New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. Earlier in the 1920s that site saw the first attempt to recreate a garden of a type the playwright would have known. It is still there today and is an early landmark in garden re-creation. But why did they want to do such a thing? Shakespeare and the garden is a fascinating subject, for without any real basis in fact Shakespeare, by the Victorian age, was turned into a hands-on gardener.

The quest for the writer's garden ushers onto the stage a bizarre list of characters among them the sensationalist novelist Marie Corelli, Edward VII's mistress Daisy, Countess of Warwick and E. F. Benson's notorious Lucia, Queen of Riseholme.

Doors open at 6pm for cash bar, lecture starts at 7pm.

Tickets are £20, the event is being sponsored by Investec Wealth & Investment so all ticket sales will go to the National Gardens Scheme.