Dame Sylvia Crowe, DBE (15 September 1901 – 30 June 1997) was an English

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

and

garden design Garden design is the art and process of designing and creating plans for layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Garden design may be done by the garden owner themselves, or by professionals of varying levels of experience and expertise. ...

er.Hal Moggridge
"Crowe, Dame Sylvia" (1901–1997)
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; accessed 8 October 2010.

Biography

Crowe was born in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

, Oxfordshire, the daughter of Beatrice ( Stockton) and Eyre Crowe, a cabinet manufacturer. Her father retired early due to ill health and moved the family to

Felbridge __NOTOC__ Felbridge is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey with a playing field within its focal area, narrowly in West Sussex. Felbridge village forms a contiguous settlement with East Grinstead and had 829 homes ...

, Sussex, to work as fruit farmer. Crowe attended Berkhamsted Girls' School, Hertfordshire from 1908 to 1912, and as a result of her suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

she was also home schooled on the family farm. She trained under

Madeline Agar Madeline Agnes Agar (21 May 1874 – 30 November 1967) was a British landscape designer. She was an early professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of a number of public gardens across London ...

Swanley Horticultural College Swanley Horticultural College, founded in , was a college of horticulture in Hextable, Kent, England. It originally took only male students but by 1894 the majority of students were female and it became a women-only institution in 1903. Early hi ...

(later absorbed into Hadlow College, which continues to teach

University of Greenwich The University of Greenwich is a public university located in London and Kent, United Kingdom. Previous names include Woolwich Polytechnic and Thames Polytechnic. The university's main campus is at the Old Royal Naval College, which along with it ...

courses in

). After college, Crowe served an apprenticeship with Edward White at the Milner, Son & White company and then worked as a garden and landscape designer for 14 years. In July 1939 she was elected to the Council of the Institute of Landscape Architects, later the

Landscape Institute The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. The LI also has a catego ...

. During World War II, Crowe served in France as an ambulance driver with the Polish Army. After the War, Crowe served as President of the Institute of Landscape Architects from 1957 to 1959 and made important contributions to landscape planning for new towns, roads and forestry. Among her notable projects is the roof garden for the

Scottish Widows Scottish Widows is a life insurance and pensions company located in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. Its product range includes life assurance and pensions. The company has been providing financial services to the ...

building in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, created using native Scottish plants. In relation to the New Towns, she worked on Harlow between 1948 and 1958, followed by Basildon between 1949 and 1962. She also developed landscape plans for Washington and Hemel Hempstead. Her first book, "Tomorrow's Lanscape" would seem to be a direct reference to Ebenezer Howard's vision for Garden Cities "Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform". Cumberland Piazza in Bristol designed by Crowe in 1964 In 1964 she designed a piazza near the Cumberland bridge flyover in Bristol. The area had got run down but in 2011 the area was refreshed and the original plants were still there. In the 1960s, Crowe shared an office with

Brenda Colvin Brenda Colvin CBE (1897–1981) was a British landscape architect, author of standard works in the field and a force behind its professionalisation. She was part of the Colvin family, which had long ties to the British Raj. Biography Colvin ...

, also president of the ILA. In 1969, landscape architect Kenneth Booth designed the cooling towers for Ironbridge B power station and was heavily influenced by the advice set out in Crowe's ''The Landscape of Power'' (1958). In the mid-20th century Lower Soughton Hall at

Northop Northop ( cy, Llaneurgain) is a village, community and electoral ward situated in Flintshire, Wales, approximately 12 miles west of the city of Chester, midway between Mold and Flint, and situated just off junction 33 of the A55 North Wale ...

in Flintshire belonged to the Gray family. In 1972, Stephen Alexander Reith Gray was Flintshire High Sheriff and Chief Executive of Shotton Steelworks. He commissioned Crowe and Raymond Cutbush to redesign the gardens and they remain much as they look today, with formal and informal features which includes herbaceous borders, yew hedges and island beds with mixed planting. Crowe received an

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

in 1977. Crowe died at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, wh ...

on 30 June 1997 of

bronchopneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is often ...

, aged 95. She never married.

Awards

* CBE 1967; DBE 1973 * Associate

Institute of Landscape Architects The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. The LI also has a catego ...

(ILA) 1934; Fellow ILA 1945 * Honorary Secretary of International Federation of Landscape Architecture (IFLA) 1949-54; Vice President IFLA 1954, 1962, 1964-1969; General Secretary IFLA 1956-59; Co-opted member of Council 1960-61 * President ILA 1957-59; Corresponding member of

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowship ...

(ASLA) 1960; Acting President IFLA 1970; Chairman of Tree Council 1974-76 * Hon FRIBA 1969; Hon FRTPI 1970; Hon DLitt, Newcastle 1976; Hon DLitt, Heriot-Watt 1976; Hon LLD, Sussex 1978; Hon Fellow Australian Institute of Landscape Architects 1978; Hon Fellow Institute of Chartered Foresters 1984; LI Gold Medal 1986; American Society of Landscape Architects Medal 1988; RHS Victoria Medal of Honour 1990; Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Gold Medal 1990 * ‘Woman of the year’ AJ 1960

Written work

* ''Tomorrow’s Landscape''. London: Architectural Press, 1956 * ''Garden Design''. London: Country Life, 1956 * ''The Landscape of Power''. London: Architectural Press, 1958 * ''The Landscape of Roads''. London: Architectural Press, 1960 * ''Space for Living: Landscape Architecture and the Allied Professions'' (ed.) Amsterdam: Djambatan, 1961 * ''Shaping Tomorrow’s Landscape''. Amsterdam: Djambatan, 1964 * ''Forestry in the Landscape''. London: HMSO, 1966 (With Zvi Miller) * ''Landscape Planning: A Policy for an Overcrowded World''. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN, 1969 * ''The Landscape of Reservoirs''. London: Association of River Authorities, 1969 * ''The Gardens of Mughul India a History and Guide''. London, Thames and Hudson, 1972 (with Sheila Haywood, Susan Jellicoe and Gordon Patterson) * ''The Pattern of Landscape''. Chichester: Packard Publishing, 1988 (with Mary Mitchell)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crowe, Sylvia 1901 births 1997 deaths Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English gardeners English landscape architects People from Tandridge (district) Women landscape architects People educated at Berkhamsted School People from Banbury