Inner Temple Garden: London

June 27, 2018

Inspired by the article “Judged a Success” in the May issue of The Royal Horticultural Society’s magazine, The Garden, I paid a visit to the Inner Temple Garden on a recent trip to London. Only open to the public during the week from 12:30 until 3 pm, it’s not quite a secret garden but a visit does require thoughtful planning. At three acres in size, it is the largest green space in the City of London.

The Inner Temple, in which the garden is sited, dates from the 12th century and is one of London’s four Inns of Court for practicing barristers. References to a garden on the property predate the Inn’s establishment. Its first gardener was appointed a mere seven hundred years ago, in 1307.

Not surprisingly, the garden’s design has evolved over time as the city has changed around it. What was described in medieval records as an orchard was altered in 1591 to include a formal layout with a terrace and walkways.

Details from a plan of the Temple, copied in 1871 from Ogilby’s 1677 map of London

Early engravings and plans provide a visual clue of what the Garden might have looked like during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries when it was redesigned in the style of William and Mary. These include the 1677 map of London (above) in which the garden is heavily planted with trees and an engraving from 1722 (below) detailing a formal courtyard garden complete with a grand avenue leading to the Thames River.

‘The Temple 1722’, re-engraved in 1831

Unfortunately, when the Victoria Embankment was constructed between 1865 and 1870 direct access to the Thames was lost. At the time the garden was redesigned by Robert Marnock, curator of the botanical gardens at Regent’s Park.

The Inner Temple Garden in 1907 as depicted by Lady V. Manners

If change is a constant, today the garden is widely acknowledged for its imaginative plantings which celebrate its historical antecedents in a fresh and contemporary manner. These are credited to former head gardener, Andrea Brunsendorf. The first woman to hold the position, she is widely admired for transforming the garden, through the creative use of herbaceous border plantings into one of London’s most admired gardens.

The planting plan has a particular emphasis on early spring. When I visited in May the borders were redolent in shades of purples and the roses were just beginning to bloom.

And speaking of roses, Shakespeare used the garden as the setting for the beginning of the War of the Roses in Henry VI, Part 1, Act 2. Where he wrote, “This brawl today, / Grown to this faction in the Temple-garden, / Shall send, between the red rose and the white, / A thousand souls to death and deadly night.”

This reference is celebrated in a 328-foot long planting bed, developed by Brusendorf and aptly named, The War of the Roses Border.

Accented with clipped yews, it includes Lancaster and York roses accompanied by perennial plantings.

A variety of fruit trees, including a walnut, medlar, quince and blackberry recall the garden’s ancient orchard while plane trees, planted in 1870 line the broad east/west walk on its southern edge.

Spectacular specimen trees grace the lawn.

One enters the garden through decorative gates, circa 1730. The gates are decorated with the Inner Temple Pegasus and the Gray’s Inn Griffin.

A Queen Anne sundial, dating from 1707, is at the top of a central stair which leads to a generous lawn.

The central stair is bordered by an ornamental meadow and Mediterranean borders.

A circular pond, sited at the lawn’s southern end is surrounded with decorative plantings.

Overlooking the pond is a statue of a boy by sculptor Margaret Wrightson. Dating from 1928, its quotation “Lawyers, I suppose were children once” is attributed to an essay by Lamb.

The Inner Temple has a rich history as a site for floral exhibitions including an annual Chrysanthemum show. So celebrated was the show that in 1857, the Treasurer proposed at a meeting of Parliament that its gardener be given £5 ‘for the satisfaction of his chrysanthemums’.

1854 engraving of the Chrysanthemum Flower Show

Between 1888 and 1911 the Royal Horticultural Society’s Great Spring Show was held in the Garden until its increasing popularity forced the RHS to find a larger venue. In 1913 the show was moved to the Royal Hospital, Chelsea where it remains today (and yes, I attended this year). In 2008 the historic link with the RHS was revived when they staged their September Floral Celebration in the Garden and, as seen from the poster below, the Garden participates in Chelsea Fringe.

When I visit London I am always seek new gardens to explore. What a pleasure to spend time in this beautiful, peaceful oasis with its elegant plantings and rich history.