Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

Investigator, Recording & Investigation

Atlanterra Project

Thesis Title: Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Medieval Wales and the Marches

About

I attended Bournemouth University to study for both my Undergraduate and Masters degrees. After that I worked as an archaeologist and surveyor in both public and private sectors.

I am currently the Investigator for the Atlanterra Project with the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historic Monuments of Wales. The Atlanterra Project is a European project with ten project partners from five countries working together to preserve and promote post-medieval mining heritage.

My PhD thesis is on the Parks, Gardens and Designed Landscapes of Medieval Wales and the Marches. The medieval gardens and designed landscapes of Wales are little understood and appreciated today by the general public who visit the castles and high status houses to which they originally belonged.

The corresponding research in England and continental Europe has had the advantage of many more of the sites being excavated and interpreted and consequently a far better collection of evidence being assimilated, furthering knowledge on a county by county and consequently a national basis.

Although there were gardens in some, if not all of the castles of Edward I in Wales they barely receive a mention in the guidebooks, which tend to concentrate on the military and architectural attributes.

The gardens of the native Welsh Princes prior to 1283 are mentioned in historical documents but little excavation has undertaken to research and discuss their gardens within the framework of existing material, although some sites have been discussed in print.

This research has used history, archaeology, poetry and other related studies in an attempt to provide synthesis for a disparate range of material and to establish future directions for the study of this topic.

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