Progress Made On Mulberry Garden Project At Hogarth's House

A learning centre and an impressive nut walk taking shape

Installing the nut-walk frame which will have a Georgian-style skittle ground at the far end

The Hogarth Trust continues to support The Mulberry Garden Project at Hogarth’s House which is expected to be completed in December and officially opened next year.

Funds are still needed over the next few years to support the learning and activities programme and the staff who will run them, as well as covering the shortfall in capital for the building and landscaping works. Hounslow Council has guaranteed the sums needed to enable work to progress.

The learning studio is nearing completion and work is in progress on the garden. New paths are being laid and the handsome frame for the hazel nut-walk had been made by artist-blacksmith James Price of East Chiltington and is now in place. It incorporates elegant serpentine bars echoing Hogarth’s “Line of Beauty” as well as iron mulberry leaves.

The nursery gardener who worked Hogarth’s House and part of the adjoining property as a garden ground in the 1890s had a small glasshouse against the north wall. A new one has been constructed on the same site, for use by the team of volunteer gardeners who will be recruited and trained to care for and present the garden for the delight of visitors. In the photo you can see the timber bothy taking shape; this will be the garden team’s base.

The newly-installed glass house against the north wall

A series of points in the garden have been given beautiful carved stone markers, commissioned from Fiona & Alec Peever Lettering and Sculpture. These will provide places for visitors to pause in a planned series of trails.

The beautiful slate markers made by the Peevers – spot the stable, the studio, the skittle ground, the mulberry, and so on. It is exciting to know that the building will probably be handed over in December and a formal opening will take place in 2020.

More info can be found on their Twitter account

Hogarth’s House received grant funding of £ 1.3 m from the Heritage Lottery Fund to enable them to build a new learning centre in the garden and open up the site for learning and interpretation to visitors.

The project, developed by Hounslow Council in partnership with the William Hogarth Trust, and made possible by National Lottery players, will create an elegant new studio space to be used for learning facilities and a garden which will provide a more appropriate setting for the Grade 1 Listed House in Chiswick.

With the 17th century mulberry tree at its heart, the design for the new garden will incorporate elements from the past history of the site.

It was here that William Hogarth, the famous artist, played skittles or nine-pins with his friends. Hogarth’s theories in art included a scrolling Line of Beauty so this shape has been built into the plans, from the edge of paved areas to the planting of lilies. The scheme is designed to provide a new setting for the historic building and enable visitors to discover horticultural history, art history, and local history, in a garden setting

November 21, 2019