Oxfordshire Gardens Trust, 20 September 2019. The talk explores connections between the two great estates in the twentieth century.
Nancy Tree- now better known as Nancy Lancaster (1897-1994) was the niece of Lady (Nancy) Astor (1879-1964); Paul Phipps (1880-1953), Nancy Astor’s brother-in-law worked at both properties (the revamped orangery at Ditchley is his) and Norah Lindsay (1873-1948) designed and planted borders at each garden. The schemes of Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe (1900-1996) is another common denominator (though separated by a couple of decades). Researching in the vast Astor archives in the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL)in 2017 suggested that not only should Cliveden’s role in Nancy Astor’s life be re-assessed but also that connections with Ditchley’s reimagining by Ronald and Nancy Tree merited further exploration.
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Cliveden, Buckinghamshire. One of the two borders leading to the mansion’s imposing entrance; the composition an homage to Norah Lindsay’s original planting. (2017 image).
Detail of view across Geoffrey Jellicoe’s pool with its distinctive steps. Ditchley Park, June 2019