Heritage Gardens
Stanwick Lakes Heritage Gardens
The Heritage Gardens are located next to the Heritage Barn at Stanwick Lakes and have been developed and are maintained by a small, dedicated team of volunteers. The gardens complement the barn, showcasing plants which would have been grown in this area from Neolithic times until medieval times. Our volunteers have also carefully researched the different uses of the plants: whether for food & flavouring, medicine, dyeing, spiritual purposes, or just for their scent and decoration.
They are made up of four individual but inter-linked areas:
- The Heritage Garden
- The Heritage Wellbeing Orchard
- The Guild Garden
- The Iron Age Nursery Garden
The Heritage Garden
This was the first section to be developed. It was started in January 2019, when the volunteer team cleared the ground of weeds and other debris. By the end of that year, the garden had taken shape and the raised beds were filled with appropriate plants: fruit bushes, annual vegetables, old-fashioned roses, medicinal & culinary herbs, dyeing plants, and a more decorative bed.
Our volunteers continue to work on this garden to keep it looking at its best throughout the year. It attracts lots of interest from visitors, who are welcome to wander round to take a closer look – although we keep the gates shut so that the rabbits don’t get in to nibble the plants!
The Heritage Wellbeing Orchard
This aim of this area is to provide a quiet haven where visitors can contemplate nature and listen to the sounds of the wildlife. It was planted in March 2020 with heritage fruit trees – apples, pears, quince and medlar – and wildflowers.
The Guild Garden
The Guild Garden is a partnership between the Stanwick Lakes Heritage Team and the Northamptonshire Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers. The plants in this garden are used for natural dyeing as part of an exciting project to recreate Iron Age (750BC – 43AD) Textiles using traditional and ancient techniques.
The main plants in this space are Woad, Madder and Weld, but there are also a few others which produce colour too, such as Tansy, Dyers Camomile and Dyers Greenwood.
Clothing in prehistoric times were certainly not dull – colours such as reds and yellows were fairly easy to produce, with blues and greens taking some skill and knowledge around plants to achieve. The skills of the weavers within these communities are shown through a number of textile crafts – loom weaving, tablet weaving, cordage, sprang to name just a few.
Visit the Guild every Wednesday and the 4th Sunday of the month in their weavers barn, where the rainbow of colours achieved during the Iron Age are on display, as well as the project work that has already taken place.
The Iron Age Settlement Garden
The garden at the Iron Age Settlement is designed to complement the roundhouses, exploring how people would have lived in the Iron Age.
Archaeological excavations on site in the 1980’s uncovered evidence of Iron Age settlement here dating from 900BC – 43AD
Our volunteers have researched what native plants could have been grown and cultivated for use during the Iron Age and are now experimenting to see what will grow in this location. The soil, climate and weather all have an impact on this garden, the same as it would have done over the past few thousand years, so it will be interesting to see which plants thrive.
Some plants such as Catmint, Foxglove, Raspberry and Gooseberry are very familiar to us in our gardens today. Others such as Angelica, Elfwort and Carlin Pea are less familiar, while many plants are not available now or are unsuitable for the conditions in this part of Stanwick Lakes. The site often floods in winter and is frequented by muntjac and rabbits who like to nibble tasty young plants.
Our Iron Age Settlement is just under a mile from the Visitor Centre, heading North along the main path route. It is open to the public, so please come and explore!
Below is an update on the plants from the Iron Age Garden.
Iron Age Garden – Plant updates
|
Name |
Description |
Updates – September 2024 |
|
Angelica |
Some species are grown as flavouring agents or for their medicinal properties. |
Flowered and died (biennial), replaced with young plants grown from seed |
|
Barley |
Archaeobotanical evidence shows that barley had spread throughout Europe by 2,000 BC. |
Did not germinate. Will try as an autumn/ winter crop |
|
Blackcurrant |
Blackcurrants can be eaten raw but are usually cooked in a variety of sweet or savoury dishes. The leaves can be extracted to produce a yellow dye and the fruit is a source for blue or violet dye. |
Thriving well |
|
Blackthorn |
Traditionally associated with witchcraft, Blackthorn is best known for its fruits used to make sloe gin. The shrub, with its long, sharp thorns, is traditionally used in Britain and other parts of northern Europe to make a cattle-proof hedge. |
Thriving well in hedgerow |
|
Catmint |
The water-soluble compounds in catnip leaves have potent antibacterial properties and catnip tea was used to rinse and clean wounds. |
Thriving well |
|
Chicory |
Vegetable, also grown as forage crop for animals |
Thriving well, lovely blue flowers |
|
Comfrey |
In folklore, comfrey roots were used in traditional medicine internally (as a herbal tea or tincture) or externally (as ointment, compresses, or alcoholic extract) for treatment of various disorders |
Thriving well |
|
Crab apple |
Crab apples are an excellent source of pectin, and their juice can be made into a ruby-coloured preserve with a full, spicy flavour |
Small seedlings planted in corners of garden |
|
Elecampane |
Also called horse-heal or elfdock, This is a widespread plant species in the sunflower family. It was sacred to the ancient Celts, and once had the name “elfwort”. The plant traditionally was held to be associated with the elves and fairy folk |
Grew tall with yellow flowers, now cut down to overwinter; some flowers saved for dried flower arrangements |
|
Field Bean |
This is the fore-runner of our Broad Bean. Broad beans have a long tradition of cultivation in agriculture, being among the most ancient plants in cultivation and also among the easiest to grow |
Did well but now cut down (annual); will grow again next year |
|
Florence fennel |
Fennel was prized by the ancient Greeks and Romans who used it as medicine, food, and insect repellent. A fennel tea was believed to give courage to the warriors prior to battle. |
Did not survive |
|
Fox Glove |
Extracted from the leaves, cardiac glycoside digitoxin is used as a medication for heart failure. However, minute increases in the dosage of these drugs can make the difference between an ineffective dose and a fatal one. |
Thriving well |
|
Gooseberry |
Gooseberry bushes produce an edible fruit and are grown on both a commercial and domestic basis. Its native distribution is unclear, since it may have escaped from cultivation and become naturalized. |
Surviving – but not very healthy |
|
Hawthorn |
The fruit of hawthorn, called haws, are edible raw but commonly made into jellies, jams, syrups, or wine. The petals are also edible, as are the leaves, which if picked in spring when still young are tender enough to be used in salads. |
Thriving well in hedgerow |
|
Hazel nuts |
The European hazelnut is among the most widely grown hazelnut plants for commercial nut production. This shrub is common in many European woodlands. It is an important component of the hedgerows that were the traditional field boundaries in lowland England. The wood was traditionally grown as coppice, the poles cut being used for wattle-and-daub building and agricultural fencing. |
Thriving well in hedgerow |
|
House leek |
Traditionally thought to protect against thunderstorms, decay and witchcraft |
Did not survive |
|
Meadowsweet |
Pleasant smelling & tasting herb, used for strewing on the floor to give rooms a pleasant aroma. Many medicinal properties including for acid stomach, rheumatism, gout, infections and fever. |
Thriving well |
|
Pea (Carlin) |
Carlin peas are one of Britain’s best-kept secrets, an historic marbled brown pea that’s also known as black peas, grey peas, maple peas or even black badgers. |
Did well but now cut down (annual); will grow again next year |
|
Raspberry |
Edible fruit – source of many vitamins and minerals. |
Thriving well |
|
Rowan |
Bane of witches, diviner of the future and producer of jam, rowan is an elegant tree with a mystical history. They are very attractive to fruit-eating birds, which is reflected in the old name “bird catcher”. The wood is dense and used for carving and turning and for tool handles and walking sticks. Rowan fruit are a traditional source of tannins for mordanting vegetable dyes |
Thriving well in hedgerow |
|
St Johns Wort |
Common St John’s wort has been used in herbalism for centuries. |
Did not survive |
|
Strawberry, alpine |
Juice is a remedy for sunburn, strengthens teeth & gums. |
Thriving but may need attention – produced some small fruit |
|
Tansy |
For many years, tansy has been used as a medicinal herb (as a painkiller) despite its toxicity. Some traditional dyers use tansy to produce a golden-yellow colour. The yellow flowers are dried for use in floral arrangements. |
Thriving well |
|
Wheat, emmer |
Emmer (in addition to einkorn and barley) was one of the most important cereal species and this importance can be seen to increase from 3400 BC onward. |
Did not germinate. Will try as again next year |
|
Wild Basil |
The leaves of wild basil are used as an aromatic herb in the preparation of food dishes and to make a herbal tea. They can also be used in the preparation of both a brown and a yellow dye. |
Thriving well |
|
Wild Primrose |
Both flowers and leaves are edible, the flavour ranging between mild lettuce and more bitter salad greens. The leaves can be cooked in soup but preferably with other plants because they are sometimes a little strong. The leaves can also be used for tea. In the past the whole plant and especially the root were considered to have analgesic, anti-spasmodic, diuretic and expectorant properties |
Did not survive |
|
Yarrow |
Yarrow is a food source of many species of insect: in particular, moth larvae, beetles and wasps |
Thriving well |
Our garden projects would not have possible without funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund Fund and the loyal support of our volunteers.
If you are interested in volunteering in the garden, keep an eye on our social media for open days, where you can meet the team and find out what’s involved. You can also view current volunteer opportunities on our volunteer system.