Yorkshire Philosophical Society

Event Information

Identifying and Protecting Historic Parks and Gardens in England: Celebrating Forty Years of ‘the Register’

Dr Victoria Thomson, Gardens Trust Conservation Committee Member

Short description of talk:
2024 marks the fortieth anniversary of the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. The Register identifies over 1700 historic parks and gardens, which then benefit from a high degree of protection through the planning system. What now seems like a self-evidently necessary mechanism for ensuring the survival of these widespread and much-loved elements of the historic environment had a difficult emergence, though: the Register appeared around a hundred years after monuments first received protection, and forty years after similar measures for buildings. The story did not end with its introduction, either: there have been a number of ups and downs in the ensuing decades. This talk explores that story from the beginning to the present day, covering the origins and evolution of the Register, and its application and effectiveness, before considering the future of the protection of historic parks and gardens.

A lecture in Partnership with the Yorkshire Gardens Trust

7pm in the Tempest Anderson Lecture Theatre in the Yorkshire Museum

All welcome to this free event; although donations are welcome.

Image: The Grade II-registered Museum Gardens, York