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Old 15-02-2004, 12:32 AM
paghat
 
Posts: n/a
Default Re Walled gardens

In article , "David Hill"
wrote:

One thought on "Why a wall round the garden?"

It was the Normans who brought Rabbits to Britain after the battle of
Hastings .1066 and in those days and for a long time to follow they were
kept in artificial warrens, and were looked after people who were known as
Warreners (Hence the Surname) and were a food for the Lords and Ladies, but
gradually they escaped into the wild and by the 17th century were a pest
which got steadily worse.
Well if you were growing nice succulent Veggies and choice flowers you
didn't want them being grazed by these rabbits, no matter how good they were
to eat, and with no wire netting or other rabbit proof fencing then a wall
was the only way to keep your plants safe.
Many estates had the facilities for brick making and plentiful cheep labour
so a wall 10ft height, 2ft thick and a mile or more in length was no great
problem. (In fact I have seen one wall on the boundary of an estate running
along a road for over 4 miles.)
This wall around the garden would also serve to keep out Deer as well.
Also often these walls had alcoves built in to them that would house Bee
hives, which in those days were often made of straw. thus giving you better
pollination and a source of honey.


what a lovely little garden-history post!

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/