The Trust’s Governing document set out two objectives:

  • To promote the education of the public on matters connected with the history, arts and sciences of garden land:

  • To preserve, enhance and re-create for the education and enjoyment of the public, garden land that may exist or have existed in Essex.

In order to do the second, it is first necessary to find out what exists or has existed. Our researchers do this through examining old and current maps, other archived material and visiting the area to see what is on the ground.

We have already done this for six council districts and one unitary authority in Essex: Braintree, Brentwood, Chelmsford, Epping Forest, Maldon, Thurrock and Uttlesford.

Copies of the resulting inventories can be found on the Inventories webpage.

The last inventory we finished was for Thurrock. The team was led by Dr Twigs Way, an experienced garden historian who has huge experience in training research volunteers. An initial list of potential sites was eventually whittled down to seventeen that were ultimately written up for inclusion in the inventory. While several sites were easy to discount, others proved more difficult. Each location was subsequently written up for the inventory. As with previous EGT inventories, the description of each site was based on Historic England’s Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The reporting of each site was in a format and language used by planning departments and conservation bodies. The final document was published in November 2021.

There were many locations in Thurrock which unfortunately had an interesting past but had either fallen into partial or complete neglect.. We were able to secure further funding which allowed for the publication of a book titled ‘Lost Gardens of Thurrock.’ There was also a huge sense of teamwork with individual members helping others with creating ‘book worthy’ images, translating Latin plant names and collecting the book from the publishers. Three team members assisted Twigs with the final edit to ensure that the publication date of May 2022 could be fulfilled. The book launch coincided with the Platinum Jubilee Celebrations at Purfleet in June 2022. There was a palpable sense of pride from all team members. The Jubilee celebrations also provided the team with the opportunity to share their research with the local community. We were delighted to speak with people who shared their own memories of historic Thurrock with us. 

We plan to start on the inventory for Southend in 2023.

If you’d like to read what one of our researchers has to say about volunteering, look here.