Welsh Historic Gardens Trust
The Welsh Historic Gardens Trust (Welsh: Ymddiriedolaeth Gerddi Hanesyddol Cymru), abbreviated WHGT, is a charitable trust concerned with the conservation and protection of gardens and parks in Wales.
The objectives of the Trust are to:
- Raise the profile of parks and garden heritage in Wales which make such a rich and varied contribution to our landscape.
- Promote interest and enjoyment in the beauty and diversity of Welsh parks and gardens including the famous and less well known, large and small, formal and picturesque, to the widest audience possible to ensure their survival for future generations.
- Promote the restoration and conservation of threatened parks and gardens which are of special historic interest in Wales.
- Research and document the garden history of Wales, an important element of the historic and cultural identity of the Nation.
The Welsh Historic Gardens Trust (WHGT) is a national organisation campaigning to save historic gardens and parks from neglect, indifference, insensitive planning and planting for future generations.
Wales has many outstanding parks and gardens. However, some remain neglected or unrecognised, yet they are as much part of the Welsh heritage as the buildings or towns they were designed to complement.
The WHGT aims to conserve, protect and raise awareness of the heritage landscape and to promote the richness and cultural importance of these sites.
Trust members enjoy a varied and exciting programme of events, including:
Garden visits Lectures and Study Days, Garden surveys, Practical conservation work, Researching the history of local gardens, Monitoring planning applications, Fund raising & publicity, Spreading awareness of the garden heritage of Wales.
Membership is open to anyone interested in the Garden Heritage and Parklands of Wales their Conservation and Protection.
WHGT is a UK Registered Charity Number 1023293.
Branches
The Welsh Historic Gardens Trust currently has 8 branches.
Members in Wales belong automatically to their own bounty branch and those across the borders to their nearest branch in Wales but all, wherever they live, are welcome at all Trust events.
The county branches
1. Brecon and Radnor
2. Carmarthen
3. Ceredigion
The Ceredigion Branch organises one public lecture per year, which is given at the Annual general Meeting in early spring. There are also at least three field excursions to local gardens during the summer months. These may be private gardens not open to the public or private visits to better-known gardens. In every case the visit has a scholarly character, with a talk on the garden history and condition from the owner, where possible, and additional archival research by members of the Branch. Our members include experts in many relevant fields including geology, botany and landscape so we usually all learn a great deal from each other.
4. Clwyd
The Clwyd branch covers NE Wales, including Flintshire, Denbighshire, Wrexham Maelor and Conwy. The branch covers planning issues as far west as the River Conwy. Clwyd branch runs a varied programme which begins in the spring and includes garden visits, talks and a study day. New members are welcome to meet us at any event.
5. Gwynedd
The Gwynedd branch covers North-West Wales west of the River Conwy.
6. Monmouthshire and Gwent
Monmouthshire and Gwent is a recently formed branch of WHGT.
7. South and Mid Glamorgan
8. West Glamorgan
Publications
WHGT publishes a regular newsletter as the "WHGT Bulletin". Branch committees also publish newsletters, books and other publications.
Gardens at risk
Some 372 Parks and Gardens in Wales have been placed on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register. These are nationally designated sites varying in size and character, including public and private parks and gardens valued for their beauty, diversity, and historic interest. In comparison to the number of listed buildings this represents a small number of properties of heritage significance. It is therefore a concern that a number are considered ‘at risk’.
Parks and gardens can become ‘at risk’ for a variety of reasons. Some have suffered from continued periods of neglect, others are threatened with inappropriate development, diseases such as Phytophthora ramorum causing ‘Sudden Oak Death, or invasive species such as Rhododendron ponticum may threaten certain properties and a few gardens are probably lost through ignorance. Ignorance particularly applies to the ‘Essential Settings’ which are often tracts of landscape all too often taken for granted. There is also a wide lack of appreciation of designed views - often developed with considerable effort and not insignificant cost which also are important aspects of our heritage, sometimes the subject of prose or poetry.
The registered area afforded guardianship is frequently not large enough and as the protection of heritage landscapes is not statutory it is likely that further Welsh landscapes will be lost or are ‘at risk’.
English Heritage has now published its Parks and Gardens at Risk Register 2009, these are the registered parks and gardens most at risk due to neglect, decay and the pressures from development. This involves 96 parks and gardens ranging from public parks and cemetery gardens to the gardens of stately homes, totalling some 6% of parks and gardens on the English register. This now means that there is a greater awareness of those gardens which might soon be lost and greater efforts can be focussed on trying to save them.
The Trust hopes to compile a similar list for Welsh gardens and parks ‘at risk’.