Month: June 2024

A Garden Festival to Delight the Senses at Borde Hill

The Jay Robin Rose Garden

Gardens, nature and the arts will be celebrated in Sussex at Borde Hill’s new season flagship garden festival on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June.

Events will be held throughout the world famous gardens at Borde Hill with art, music, stalls and rare and unusual plant sellers. You will be able to savour the finest of English sparkling wines from Wiston whilst enjoying the music in the splendid rose garden. Amongst the many notable speakers will be the international artist, Claire Luxton, who will explore The Nature of Looking: Art, Femininity, and The Natural World. Claire’s work is deeply inspired by the natural world, flowers and butterflies. The four times Chelsea gold winning garden designer, Jo Thompson, will be talking about the art of creating Romantic Gardens for the 21st Century. We are fortunate that both of these exceptionally talented and respected women are based in Sussex. The Knepp Estate, famous for its re-wilding projects, will also be contributing to the weekend.

As I walk through the gardens the light and reflections play on the water in the Italian garden framed by the glorious Alliums. Across the lawns in front of the house I pass abundant borders filled with scent and colour and then to the exquisite rose garden where the roses are already out. The gardens are looking beautiful and delight the senses.

The Jay Robin Rose Garden

I catch up with Jay Goddard whose family created and have stewarded these internationally important gardens and their plant collections for more than 130 years. Jay is clearly excited about the Garden Festival. She says “This new flagship event is our first festival on this scale celebrating the beauty of nature and how it inspires creativity, art and music.”

Borde Hill’s Garden Festival will also be showcasing the best finds for both home and garden with over 40 curated independent stalls. Rare and unusual plants from national specialist nurseries will feature alongside planters, garden furniture, lifestyle trends and artisan accessories. And the leading designer Cath Kidston will be speaking about her Passion for Pelargoniums. Jay concludes “I hope everyone who comes will have a vibrant, wonderful weekend and will have time to discover and delight in the garden. Time to celebrate the beauty of nature the importance of our natural world, and shine a spotlight on sustainability and climate change.” Borde Hill’s gardens bless you. As you walk your conversations cannot fail to be informed by the beauty of the place. For more information and to buy tickets for Borde Hill’s Garden Festival visit www.bordehill.co.uk/events/borde-hill-garden-festival/ or telephone 01444 450326

Stories of Courage and Duty Bound Up with Art at Berwick Church

Vanessa Bell’s Nativity at Berwick Church

This week we commemorate the 80th Anniversary of the D-day landings and give thanks for the courage and bravery of our service men and our allies in their defence of freedom, justice and righteousness in the face of Nazism. I am returning to Berwick Church in East Sussex where two of the scenes in the decorative scheme speak into this moment in our long Island history.

As the storm clouds of war gathered over Europe British artists and writers stood in protest against our nation’s appeasement of fascism. Many chose to fight in the Spanish Civil war against the Fascists. Amongst these was the English poet Julian Bell. He was the eldest son of the Bloomsbury and Charleston artist Vanessa Bell and her art critic husband Clive. In 1937 Julian volunteered as an ambulance driver. He was fatally wounded by bomb fragments on a stretch of road just outside Villanueva de la Cañada and died aged just 29.

In 1940 as the Battle of Britain was being fought above the skies of Sussex Bishop George Bell commissioned Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant to paint the scenes we see at Berwick Church today.

Vanessa’s depiction of the Nativity in the Sussex Barn at Charleston with Firle Beacon behind is filled with allegory. Jesus is depicted as the Lamb of God in the foreground his light in the world spilled onto the scene by an old lantern. The Sussex trug is filled with vegetables hinting at the abundance of God’s love for us. Vanessa and Duncan Grant’s daughter Angelica is painted as Mary with the infant Christ upon her lap. There is a sense of longing in Mary’s face. Perhaps Vanessa is reflecting upon the loss of Julian and Christ’s promise of resurrection and eternal life.

Douglas Hemming and his fellow service men painted at Berwick Church

Above the chancel arch Duncan Grant paints Christ in Majesty. The downland scenery below enfolds figures of the time. To the right is the patron Bishop Bell and the Rector of Berwick. To the left a local airman, a sailor and the soldier, Douglas Hemming, who was killed near Caen in June 1944 soon after D-day.

These paintings are bound up with personal stories of courage, duty, love and loss in the defence of freedom, and righteousness. I hope in the coming days each of us will find time to reflect and give thanks for the courage and example of all those who fought in the D-day landings. Those whose courage and sacrifice have blessed us with freedom and opportunity.