The Club is delighted to announce a trip to neighbouring Goldney Gardens this April. The trip concludes with lunch at the Club with wine, after a short 10 minute walk to Goldney Gardens for a private tour for members to admire and explore the beautiful gardens.
Goldney Gardens is a rare example of an eighteenth century ‘Kentian’ landscape garden, popular in the mid to late eighteenth century before Capability Brown’s ‘naturalistic’ landscapes became fashionable, it is an intriguing fusion of art and nature, designed to tell a story and create an experience for the visitor.
Most of what we can see now dates from between 1731 and 1769. Although some of its features have been lost since that time, the garden retains many elements typical of a Kentian landscape as well as at least one that can only be found at Goldney.
The gardens, connected to the adjacent student housing, belong to the University of Bristol, and are opened infrequently – for weddings, theatrical performances, a yearly benefit for Amnesty International, and the occasional public open day.
Carolyn Dougherty has arranged a tour of the gardens for Club members. We’ll begin at the club with a talk on the history and design principles of the Kentian landscape. We will then walk to Goldney Gardens, where Carolyn will recreate a ‘circuit walk’ around the grounds to attempt to recreate the experience of an eighteenth century visitor. The tour will conclude with a descent into the Goldney Grotto, one of the best-preserved in the country.
Afterwards we will reconvene at the Club for an optional lunch (please let us know if you’re planning to join us so that we can reserve a table).