Village Gardeners
Do you know the difference between a gnome and a dwarf? Neither did our April
speaker but, undaunted, Dr Twigs Way, garden historian and author, gave us a
fascinating insight into the 'History of the Garden Gnome' Following on
from Classical statues and the 'Grotesques'popular in seventeenth
century England, garden gnomes were first introduced into this country by Sir
Charles Isham in the 1860s. He imported 'hundreds of small garden
dwarfs'from Germany to populate his newly-built rockery at Lamport Hall in
Northamptonshire. These were highly painted, ceramic figures . Sir Charles
considered it entirely correct to put gnomes in his garden since he believed
that they existed in real life!
We learnt that the late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a height of
gnome popularity in England. Usually imported from Germany these hand-moulded
and painted gnomes were therefore expensive and found only in the gardens of
the gentry. However, during the First World War when the gnome became a German
military mascot, they naturally became unpopular here, never again to grace the
smartest gardens.
At last, with the popularity of the 1950s Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, came the revival of the garden gnome, but this time as a feature of mainly suburban gardens. These were inexpensive, mass-produced, concrete figures, always with red-painted hats and often with wheelbarrow or rake in hand! These gnomes became so ubiquitous as to be considered utterly 'naff'by the 1980s! Currently, however, the garden gnome seems to have something of a popular 'kitsch' status and a spate of gnome-knapping has recently occurred -so it may be prudent to watch over your garden gnomes with great care!
Our next meeting is on Tuesday 18 May when Mr Richard Ayers, retired Head Gardener of Anglesey Abbey, will talk to us on the Gibberd Garden, Harlow. This will be at 8pm in the Village Hall and all are most welcome. The next date for your diaries will be Tuesday, 15 June when we have an evening outing to the garden of The Old House, Fulbourn, home of Kate and Charles Comins.