London Luminaries: Chiswick House A kitchen garden for the next 100 years by Rosie Fyles

This talk is the 13th lecture in the London Luminaries virtual lecture series by Head Gardener Rosie Files.

he kitchen garden at Chiswick House and Gardens has been a productive space for almost 350 years. During the last century , they were restored from decades of neglect by an innovative, local team, committed to re-invigorating this atmospheric and story-rich spaces for the future. Rosie’s talk will focus on the legacy that she and her team seek to honour in their work to develop a kitchen garden for the future: extending in to historic productive spaces designed for fruit, drawing on previous use and applying climate predictions to planting and landscape design.

Rosie Fyles was recently appointed Head of Gardens at Chiswick House and Gardens Trust. Having worked in the National Trust for almost ten years, latterly as Head Gardener of Ham House and Garden, Rosie began her working life in marketing and communications. Rosie is a Trustee of Silent Space, a charity that promotes peaceful time in green spaces. Known for her wildlife-friendly, climate-conscious approach to developing historic gardens, Rosie has contributed widely in print and broadcast media, most recently writing a series for domestic gardeners in Period Living magazine.

Thames west of London has been the resort of royalty, aristocrats, artists, writers and wealthy property owners for centuries. As well as building elegant villas, they developed gardens which provided a feast for the senses and supplied food for the table.

In our own times, issues of the sustainability of food production and equity of its distribution are hot topics. In this series of 14 talks, we explore how food was produced and consumed in the past by our Luminaries to help inform discussions on the future of food and drink. Much food was produced locally; great houses such as Chiswick House and Fulham Palace had their own kitchen gardens and Alexander Pope boasted of the sources of his meat supply: ‘To Hounslow Heath I point, and Banstead-Down, / Thence comes your Mutton, and these chicks my own.’ Yet modern luxuries such as tea and coffee stretched supply chains around the globe. Wining and dining also provided hosts with opportunities to display their hospitality and particular taste through the choice of menu and table setting.

This varied banquet of 14 talks thus also explore cultural dimensions of food and drink.