Busbridge
Busbridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley ward of '' Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe''. It was until the Tudor period often recorded ...
,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, England, commemorates the gardener
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
and members of her family. Designed by Jekyll's friend and collaborator,
Edwin Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...
and constructed in 1932, it is a
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
structure.
History and architecture
Gertrude Jekyll (1843–1932) was a gardener whose work had considerable influence on subsequent garden design theory and practice. A close friend of Edwin Lutyens, she collaborated with him on designs for over 100 gardens. In 1896, Lutyens designed Jekyll's house,
Munstead Wood
Munstead Wood is a Grade I listed house and garden in Munstead Heath, Busbridge on the boundary of the town of Godalming in Surrey, England, south-east of the town centre. The garden was created by garden designer Gertrude Jekyll, and became ...
, at Munstead Heath near Busbridge. The death of "Aunt Bumps", as Lutyens called Jekyll, in December 1932, shortly after that of her brother Herbert in September the same year, led Lutyens to design a family memorial. Tributes to Dame Agnes, Herbert's widow, who died in 1937, and to Francis, their only son who died in 1965, were subsequently added.
The memorial is located at the south-east corner of the Church of St John the Baptist in Busbridge. It comprises three stone tomb slabs, placed in front of a stone
exedra
An exedra (plural: exedras or exedrae) is a semicircular architectural recess or platform, sometimes crowned by a semi-dome, and either set into a building's façade or free-standing. The original Greek sense (''ἐξέδρα'', a seat out of d ...
which is topped by a semi-circular urn.
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist
* Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo
* David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
describes the whole as "an intricate composition, oddly like Soane translated into the blunt obtuse forms of the 1930s". The original inscription read 'In remembrance of Herbert and Gertrude Jekyll long time dwellers in their homes in Munstead who passed to their rest in the Autumn of 1932. / Their joy was in the work of their hands: their memorial is the beauty which lives after them'. This was later updated to include reference to Herbert's widow; 'Also of Agnes Jekyll whose spirit ever dwelt in loving kindness'. The memorial is a
Grade II listed structure
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.
Memorial to Francis McLaren
To the right of the Jekyll Memorial stands a carved wooden headboard commemorating
Francis McLaren
Francis Walter Stafford McLaren (16 June 1886 – 30 August 1917) was a British Member of Parliament killed in the First World War in a flying accident.
Career
A younger son of Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway, he attended Eton College, Et ...
(1886–1917). McLaren had married Barbara Jekyll, daughter of Sir Herbert and Lady Jekyll, and was killed in a flying accident in 1917. The headboard was also designed by Lutyens and consists of five, pegged, panels, showing the arms of the
Royal Flying Corps
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colors =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries =
, decorations ...
and carrying details of McLaren's career as a
member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
and as a
second lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank.
Australia
The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...