Garden takes root for Chelsea

A display garden to celebrate the achievements of Thomas Telford, the father of civil engineering, is fast taking shape to go on display at Chelsea Flower Show next week.

It is being created by Telford & Wrekin Council as the highlight of a year of activities to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Scot who gave his name to the new town of Telford in the 1960s.

The centrepiece of the garden is a replica of the sort of toll-house built by the great man along the London to Holyhead road in the 19th century.

Created at the Coalbrookdale Iron Museum, the toll-house features a wooden frame made by carpenter Ken Davies and fibreglass brick frontage by L&R Products.

It has now been broken into pieces, taken down to London, and is being put back together again at Chelsea, ready for show opening day on Wednesday.

Workmen from the Ironbridge Gorge Museums have also reconstructed, by hand, an authentic toll-gate to become part of the exhibit.

Trees, plants and flowers for the garden are being provided by Harper Adams University College, near Newport, as well as other county suppliers.

The garden has been designed by landscape architect Michael Vout and horticulturalist Chris Jones, both employed by Telford & Wrekin Council.

It is designed to show how a toll-house was both a home and workplace for a toll-keeper and his family.

The garden would have kept the family supplied with vegetables, flowers and herbs.

In their description of the display, the two designers said: “As the toll-keeper was a well educated man, he would have been able to make good use of the gardening books and magazines which were becoming increasingly popular in the Victorian era.

“This is a garden to be enjoyed and used by the family but which also helped to show the respectability and status of the family and the important job they had.

“It captures the essence and quality of Telford’s work, the spirit of place and the period in history, and is essentially a garden which is both practical and charming.”

The garden also features foxgloves to commemorate Dr William Withering, of Wellington, who pioneered the use of the plant as a heart medication.

Factfile:

• Designed by Michael Vout and Chris Jones, of Telford & Wrekin Council.
• Inspired by Telford’s design for toll-houses built along the London to Holyhead Road between 1817 and 1832.
• The display shows the vegetable garden and flower garden that would have been enjoyed and used by a toll-keeper, his wife and their two children.
• Vegetables used include beetroot, broad bean, cabbage, carrot and cauliflower.
• Herbs used include chives, horseradish, borage, fennel, balm, mint, marjoram, rosemary, sage and thyme.
• Annual flowers used are pot marigold and sweet pea.
• The four features of the display are the toll-house, the toll-gate and highway, the garden and the surrounding landscape.

Picture:  Workmen dismantle the toll-house replica for the Chelsea Flower Show.
By Peter Johnson