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Transcript of video tour filmed during the Heritage Open Day, 14th September 2008
Speaker: Ann Coats
We came together in 1999, and the plans for the garden had already been established, but we took over the designing of the planting.
Since 1999 we have been to see other gardens and to look at plants and go to nurseries, and it's been great fun --- apart from the digging.
In the winter of 2000 and 2001 we started digging the beds and because this used to be a car park, there was lots of rubble and beneath the rubble was clay. So we dug down 2 feet, my friends and I. You and I are the only ones that survived and it was the wettest winter for 300 years.
We start here with Captain Scott. He obviously isn't 18th century, but his family have long connections with the Navy and he was obviously a naval captain and his son was also a naval captain. He represents endeavour and discovery and pushing things to the limit. The statue was given to us by the Navy when we set up the garden. It used to be further up towards Victory. And it was sculpted by his widow Kathleen Lady Scott. The dog next to him was apparently a female dog called Nelly.
This is the herbal border, which we planted this year. Each year we have a theme to the garden. Last year it was the anti slavery trade, the bill against anti slavery. This year because herbs were such a prevalent part of 18th century gardens and were used in a variety of culinary, medicinal, flavouring, washing uses. Here we've got marigold, feverfew, rosemary, and an unusual form of lavender. So there are so many varieties that have survived from the 18th century that we can have a lot of variety in the garden.
William had been given to us again by the Navy and he is very appropriate to be in this garden because during his reign the dockyard doubled in size because he needed more facilities to fight his wars against France and through the 1690's we were at war with France. So he laid the foundation for the 18th century, for the supremacy of the dockyard in the 18th century.