From Curiosity to Obsession: the excitement of researching garden histories

Research can often seem intimidating. What to research, where to go, how to search, what if I find nothing? Valid questions all but garden research should be a pleasure. Susi and Marcus Batty, from their own experiences, seek to dispel any fears and to present research as a compulsive activity.

Biographies:-

Susi Batty trained as a landscape architect and worked in Manchester and London. As a garden designer she worked in London, Bristol and Sussex. In 2005 she enrolled on the exciting first year of the M.A. in Garden History in Bristol which inspired her work as a landscape detective in several counties. She has been a Member of Council of the Garden Trusts in Devon and more recently in Sussex and has edited publications for both, including not only the Newsletter but also the significant centenary publications, Capability Brown in Sussex and Humphry Repton in Sussex. She has a particular interest in Tudor gardens and, at the opposite end of the spectrum, C20 and C21 gardens. She now lives in Wiltshire and is relishing opportunities for new research.

Marcus Batty, after a career as a corporate tax specialist in Bristol and elsewhere, obtained an MA in Landscape Archaeology from Bristol University. He was for a number of years Treasurer then Chair of Sussex Garden Trust (SGT), winning the Gardens Trust's Volunteer of the Year Award for his Coronavirus Bulletin produced over two years of pandemic for SGT members. During that period, he became adept at researching the internet for the very diverse articles published in that bulletin. He was a regular contributor to Sussex GT's publications, researching not only various historic gardens but also seaside parks in the various Sussex resort towns.