The University of Bristol Botanic Garden is a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. The garden moved to its current site in

Stoke Bishop Stoke Bishop is a medium-sized outer city suburb in the north-west of Bristol, located in between Westbury-on-Trym, Sneyd Park, and Sea Mills. Although relatively low, Stoke Bishop's population has increased due to substantial infilling on the ...

having previously been at two other sites in the city. The 4,500 species of plants are displayed in collections relating to evolution, Mediterranean, local flora and rare natives and finally useful plants.

History

Holmes at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden 09

The

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

established a botanic garden in 1882 at

Royal Fort House The Royal Fort House is a historic house in Tyndalls Park, Bristol. The building currently houses the University of Bristol's Faculty of Science offices, the Brigstow Institute, Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research, the Cabot Institu ...

adjacent to Tyndall Avenue. It was laid out by Adolf Leipner. This site was later known as the Hiatt Baker Garden. In 1959 the site of the Botanic Garden was used to build the university's Senate House. The botanic collection was moved to the spacious gardens of Bracken Hill beside North Road, Leigh Woods, near the

Clifton Suspension Bridge The Clifton Suspension Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon, linking Clifton in Bristol to Leigh Woods in North Somerset. Since opening in 1864, it has been a toll bridge, the income from which provides fun ...

. The Bracken Hill house and gardens had been established in 1886 by Melville Wills, a noted benefactor to Bristol University. Bracken Hill house and some of the gardens continued to be used by the

plant pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungus, fung ...

and other services of the government's

National Agricultural Advisory Service ADAS is a UK-based independent agricultural and environmental consultancy and provider of rural development and policy advice. ADAS provides independent science-based research, consultancy and contracting services to a wide range of organisat ...

(NAAS), advising farmers and growers from

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

Lands End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

when UK-grown crops were vital to minimise

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. See, for instance, the cereal and vegetable diseases work of

Lawrence Ogilvie Lawrence Ogilvie (5 July 1898 – 16 April 1980) was a Scottish plant pathologist. From 1923, in his first job and aged only 25, when agriculture was Bermuda's major industry, Ogilvie identified the virus that had devastated the islands' high-v ...

at Bracken Hill. The NAAS staff, laboratories and offices had moved there from the

Long Ashton Research Station Long Ashton Research Station (LARS) was an agricultural and horticultural government-funded research centre located in the village of Long Ashton near Bristol, UK. It was created in 1903 to study and improve the West Country cider industry and be ...

also to the west of Bristol. In 2005 the botanic collections were relocated to The Holmes, a site in

opposite

Churchill Hall Halls of residence at the University of Bristol are generally located within three distinct areas of Bristol, the City Centre, Clifton, Bristol, Clifton and Stoke Bishop. Clifton halls Goldney Hall Goldney Hall is a self-catered hall situated ...

. The Holmes had been built in 1879 and had a ornamental garden. It had been used by

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

staff during the preparations for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

during

. The new garden designed by Land Use Consultants advised by

Peter Crane Sir Peter Crane, FRS (born 18 July 1954) is the current President of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and Senior Research Scientist in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. In addition to his work in leading and d ...

, was the first University Botanic Garden built in the UK in the 21st century. Various organised tours and visits are available along with some horticultural talks and courses.

Displays

Victoria cruziana at the University of Bristol Botanic Garden 02

The garden has of

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of Transparent ceramics, transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic condit ...

s divided into cool, warm-temperate, sub-tropic and tropical zones which house plants from the evolution collection. The tropical zone includes a raised pool with aquatic plants including the water lily ''

Victoria cruziana ''Victoria cruziana'' (Santa Cruz water lily, water platter, yrupe, synonym ''Victoria argentina'' Burmeist.) is a tropical species of flowering plant, of the Nymphaeaceae family of water lilies native to South America, primarily Bolivia, Argent ...

''. The displays include 4500 plant species. These are divided into collections of evolution, Mediterranean, local-flora, rare-native, and finally useful plants. The useful-plant displays include herb gardens with western, Chinese and herbal medicine, including species used in

Ayurvedic Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

and Southern African medicine. Displays of plants from the

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

region include those from several continents. Plant evolution is illustrated by several displays. The local-flora and rare-native collection includes the unusual species found in the

Avon Gorge The Avon Gorge () is a 1.5-mile (2.5-kilometre) long gorge on the River Avon in Bristol, England. The gorge runs south to north through a limestone ridge west of Bristol city centre, and about 3 miles (5 km) from the mouth of the r ...

Mendip Hills The Mendip Hills (commonly called the Mendips) is a range of limestone hills to the south of Bristol and Bath in Somerset, England. Running from Weston-super-Mare and the Bristol Channel in the west to the Frome valley in the east, the hills ...

Somerset Levels The Somerset Levels are a coastal plain and wetland area of Somerset, England, running south from the Mendip Hills, Mendips to the Blackdown Hills. The Somerset Levels have an area of about and are bisected by the Polden Hills; the areas to ...

and surrounding areas. These plants include the Bristol Onion,

Cheddar Pink ''Dianthus gratianopolitanus'', commonly known as the Cheddar pink or clove pink, is a species of plant in the family Caryophyllaceae. It is a herbaceous perennial, hardy to zones 4–8. It grows to a height of 0.5 to 1 feet, blooming from May ...

and various species of

Whitebeam The whitebeams are members of the family Rosaceae, comprising subgenus ''Aria'' (or, according to some authorities, its own genus) of genus ''Sorbus'', and hybrids involving species of this subgenus and members of subgenera ''Sorbus'', ''Torminar ...

. The Botanic Garden, in partnership with the

Arnolfini gallery Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

, has created a floating ballast-seed garden on an old barge in

Bristol Harbour Bristol Harbour is the harbour in the city of Bristol, England. The harbour covers an area of . It is the former natural tidal river Avon through the city but was made into its current form in 1809 when the tide was prevented from going out per ...

References

External links

The University of Bristol botanic garden
{{Authority control Bristol University Botanic Garden University of Bristol Gardens in Bristol 1882 establishments in England