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Join us for a special evening talk in the Gallery at Strawberry Hill House with landscape architect and garden historian Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, author of the acclaimed book English Garden Eccentrics.

Drawing on three centuries of extraordinary gardens and the remarkable personalities who created them, Todd will explore the curious, imaginative and sometimes eccentric individuals who shaped the English landscape. From miniature mountains and mysterious grottos to extravagant topiary and theatrical garden features, these landscapes reveal how gardens can become deeply personal expressions of their makers.

Among these characters is Horace Walpole, whose Gothic villa and garden at Strawberry Hill embodied the spirit of imaginative experimentation. Walpole and his collaborator Richard Bentley famously designed a spectacular shell seat, a whimsical half-clam bench that once formed part of the garden’s theatrical landscape.

This illustrated talk will place Walpole within a wider tradition of inventive garden makers and offer a fascinating glimpse into the history of the English garden at its most eccentric and expressive.

All proceeds from this event will support Strawberry Hill's Shell Seat Appeal