Hestercombe Gardens Institute for Garden and Landscape History
HESTERCOMBE GARDENS INSTITUTE
Background
Hestercombe Gardens Trust and the University of Bristol have joined together in a unique collaboration between a leading international research university and a major historic gardens trust to form a new Institute for Garden and Landscape History.
The purpose of the Institute is to promote research and the public understanding and appreciation of historic gardens and designed landscapes, and to be the leading United Kingdom centre for international scholarship in the history and conservation practices in an expanding area of world heritage studies. By bringing together Hestercombe’s historic landscapes and gardens and the Trust’s experience in conservation and management with the University’s academic expertise in garden history, the Institute will develop research projects and provide education and training opportunities in Bristol and at Hestercombe. The University’s position as a leading centre in the United Kingdom higher education sector for graduate studies and research in landscape and garden history as well as in landscape archaeology, and its Botanic Garden and related scientific expertise and interests, together with Hestercombe’s unique experience in the practices of conserving, managing and presenting historic landscapes and gardens, will be mutually complementary. The Institute will provide new opportunities in garden history, both for major projects attracting funding from public and other sources and for international exchanges between scholars. It will also develop a range of educational and training programmes in which the University and Hestercombe Gardens Trust will collaborate.
The University of Bristol has established links and international connections through its membership of the Worldwide Universities Network with major centres of garden history and landscape architecture studies in America and Europe, and also with other leading centres in Hanover, Bologna, Versailles and Washington DC. The new Bristol and Hestercombe Institute for Garden and Landscape History will be the first of its kind in the United Kingdom, and offers an opportunity for the Trust and the University to become a world leader in its field.
Please note that the Institute is initially a virtual Study Centre and does not have members
For more information link to www.gardenhistoryinstitute.co.uk