Medieval Gardens and Middleham

Hi Tamara,

Looking at this article, the author doesn't seem to be saying there was a maze, only that there could have been.

A lot of articles I l have looked at online suggest that knot gardens go back to the Middle Ages, although they were of course wildly fashionable in Tudor times. There were certainly medieval labyrinth designs on floors, so probably also in gardens, and box hedging was used. I suspect the main problem is that we have much less evidence about medieval gardens so the Tudors get given the credit for innovations by default.

Perhaps knot gardens and mazes became more popular after the Reformation because so many of the other medieval garden designs had been based on marian symbolism.

But I suspect tall mazes with hedges you couldn't see over would have been a later idea. Does anyone have a book on medieval gardens?

Marie

Hi Tamara,

Looking at this article, the author doesn't seem to be saying there was a maze, only that there could have been.

A lot of articles I l have looked at online suggest that knot gardens go back to the Middle Ages, although they were of course wildly fashionable in Tudor times. There were certainly medieval labyrinth designs on floors, so probably also in gardens, and box hedging was used. I suspect the main problem is that we have much less evidence about medieval gardens so the Tudors get given the credit for innovations by default.

Perhaps knot gardens and mazes became more popular after the Reformation because so many of the other medieval garden designs had been based on marian symbolism.

But I suspect tall mazes with hedges you couldn't see over would have been a later idea. Does anyone have a book on medieval gardens?

Marie

Weren't some mazes made with yew bushes?

Jess From: mariewalsh2003
Sent: 18/05/2015 12:15
To:
Subject: [Richard III Society Forum] Re: Medieval Gardens and Middleham

Hi Tamara,

Looking at this article, the author doesn't seem to be saying there was a maze, only that there could have been.

A lot of articles I l have looked at online suggest that knot gardens go back to the Middle Ages, although they were of course wildly fashionable in Tudor times. There were certainly medieval labyrinth designs on floors, so probably also in gardens, and box hedging was used. I suspect the main problem is that we have much less evidence about medieval gardens so the Tudors get given the credit for innovations by default.

Perhaps knot gardens and mazes became more popular after the Reformation because so many of the other medieval garden designs had been based on marian symbolism.

But I suspect tall mazes with hedges you couldn't see over would have been a later idea. Does anyone have a book on medieval gardens?

Marie

ÿ

Hi Tamara,

Looking at this article, the author doesn't seem to be saying there was a maze, only that there could have been.

A lot of articles I l have looked at online suggest that knot gardens go back to the Middle Ages, although they were of course wildly fashionable in Tudor times. There were certainly medieval labyrinth designs on floors, so probably also in gardens, and box hedging was used. I suspect the main problem is that we have much less evidence about medieval gardens so the Tudors get given the credit for innovations by default.

Perhaps knot gardens and mazes became more popular after the Reformation because so many of the other medieval garden designs had been based on marian symbolism.

But I suspect tall mazes with hedges you couldn't see over would have been a later idea. Does anyone have a book on medieval gardens?

Marie

Jan here. During Roman times in Britain 3 people were buried with box twigs in their coffins & I'm sure box was used for the reconstructed garden at Fishbourne Roman villa. So box could have grown when & where it found favourable conditions in early medieval times. Some Anglo-Saxons travelled to the continent & might have seen box hedges there. I do not know how long Box Hill has had the said box growing on it!

Sent from my iPad
On 18 May 2015, at 18:38, 'Sharon Feely' 43118@... [] <> wrote:

ÿ

Weren't some mazes made with yew bushes?

Jess From: mariewalsh2003
Sent: 18/05/2015 12:15
To:
Subject: Re: Medieval Gardens and Middleham

Hi Tamara,

Looking at this article, the author doesn't seem to be saying there was a maze, only that there could have been.

A lot of articles I l have looked at online suggest that knot gardens go back to the Middle Ages, although they were of course wildly fashionable in Tudor times. There were certainly medieval labyrinth designs on floors, so probably also in gardens, and box hedging was used. I suspect the main problem is that we have much less evidence about medieval gardens so the Tudors get given the credit for innovations by default.

Perhaps knot gardens and mazes became more popular after the Reformation because so many of the other medieval garden designs had been based on marian symbolism.

But I suspect tall mazes with hedges you couldn't see over would have been a later idea. Does anyone have a book on medieval gardens?

Marie

Don't know whether this helps Tamara but Middleham belonged to the Fitzranulf family in the 13th century, when one of the three daughters (no sons) married Robert Neville of Raby. The Fitzranulfs were Sheriffs of Northumberland so no doubt it's function was military. On a similar topic, I was at Hooton the original family seat of the Stanleys a couple of weeks' ago. Now they are often accused of being expansionist, but when you look at the Welsh border landscape you can understand why families stuck together. In fact it taught me that you really do need to look at the landscape if you can (I know it's difficult for you in the US) because it can help us understand a lot. On the garden thing, I had a look at Villandry in the Loire which is famous for its box-hedged gardens (glorious). Now although they are replicas it described them as Renaissance 1535, so perhaps the idea came from France or Italy - certainly not another Tudor mythical invention, and, as you say, things were warmer then. H
From: "khafara@... []" <>
To:
Sent: Tuesday, 19 May 2015, 13:12
Subject: [Richard III Society Forum] Re: Medieval Gardens and Middleham

Thanks for the responses, ladies!

I think a case could be made for the Nevilles having planted box during the Medieval Warm Period and for its being so hardy once established that it survived the colder centuries that followed.

A question this would raise in my mind is this: Did the present Middleham castle ever have a military function, or was it designed to be a private residence from the get-go? I can't imagine a military garrison having anything around it that might provide cover for an attacker.

Tamara

ÿ

Jess, thanks for the yew tip!

As it turns out, yew and beech were and are popular for hedge mazes, and yew at least would have readily grown that far north, though I suspect that if a yew maze was ever planted at Middleham, it probably was cut down during the centuries-long quest for longbow wood, yew being the wood of choice for such weapons. By Richard's time England had long since depleted its own yew supply and was depending heavily on Polish and German yew wood.

My guess (for what it's worth, which is next to naught) is that, unless the yew was being deliberately grown to be eventually harvested for bows (which would make sense if the trees were closely planted so as to grow up straight and tall) any tall hedges were probably beech.

Tamara