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Garden Museum

  • Museums
  • Lambeth
  • Recommended
Garden Museum, Lambeth, press 2019
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Time Out says

Founded by amateur horticulturist couple John and Rosemary Nicholson in 1977 and housed inside the deconsecrated church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, this riverside museum explores the history of British gardening and its representation in art. 

The museum is home to the Archive of Garden Design, a collection working records of leading British garden designers of the 20th and 21st century, while its permanent display features an assemblage of antique gardening tools and a gallery exploring the life and work of John Tradescant, an intrepid plant hunter, gardener to Charles I and founder of the UK’s first public museum, a collection of botanical specimes which he named ‘The Ark’ and displayed at his house in Lambeth,

At the heart of the museum is a courtyard garden where you’ll find the tombs of the Tradescants and Admiral Bligh of the Bounty, as well as a collection of rare plants representing John Tradescant’s journeys as a plant collector. 

The museum hosts between four and six temporary exhibitions per year, and also houses an on-site restaurant, the Garden Café, which serves lunch daily from 12-3pm.

Rosie Hewitson
Written by
Rosie Hewitson

Details

Address:
5 Lambeth Palace Road
London
SE1 7LB
Transport:
Tube: Lambeth North/Waterloo/Westminster
Price:
£14 (concessions and group tickets available; Patrons go free)
Opening hours:
10am-5pm daily
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What’s on

Jean-Marie Toulgouat: Gardening Giverny

Even if you don’t know the name Jean-Marie Toulgouat, you’ll notice something immediately familiar about his work in this Garden Museum exhibition. That’s because Toulgouat was the great-grandson (by marriage) of the iconic Impressionist painter Claude Monet. Monet’s themes and colours seep into the oil paintings on show which capture Toulgout’s relationship to the landscapes of Giverny where he was born. In the 1960’s Toulgouat was also heavily involved in restoring Monet’s gardens and you can see archival photographs of these green spaces that inspired some of the most famous paintings in the world captured by legendary garden photographer Andrew Lawson. Not only is the exhibition an unusual look into the life of Monet, it’s also an insight into how the water garden – one of the most well-known images in the world – was made. 

‘Why Women Grow’

Is your flat full of houseplants? Did you start growing vegetables in lockdown and now have a lifetime’s supply of Lamb’s Lettuce? You’re not the only one. Writer and editor Alice Vincent set out to discover why women grow plants and vegetables and in 2022 she compiled her stories into a book. This exhibition brings the tales to life with original recordings of interviews from guests like Margaret Howell, Sarah Raven, Rukmini Iyer and Poppy Okotcha and accompanying photography by Siobhan Watts.

Spring Plant Fair

The Garden Museum is filling up with pots, plants and lots of soil for its annual spring plant fair. Expert plant growers and specialist nurseries from across the country will gather their best-fledging blooms to sell to London’s green-fingered folk. From shade specialists to plants for pollinators, meet the growers and find out what will flourish in your garden, balcony or allotment. There’ll also be a series of talks and workshops on everything from attracting wildlife in small spaces to cookery demos. 

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