• Lost Gardens of Hertfordshire: The archaeology of designed landscapes
    New publications

    Lost Gardens of Hertfordshire: The archaeology of designed landscapes

    A new study of landscape history in Hertfordshire

    By Tom Williamson and Anne Rowe

    In this fascinating and innovative study – the outcome of several decades of research – systematic field survey and the analysis of aerial photographs and Lidar images are combined with the evidence of early maps and documents to reconstruct the appearance and history of more than twenty of Hertfordshire’s ‘lost gardens’. An archaeological approach also allows us to see garden history in new ways, revealing aspects of design and patterns of development not readily apparent in the kinds of evidence conventionally employed by garden historians.

    Clearly and accessibly written, and richly illustrated with a wealth of archaeological plans, aerial photographs, archive maps and early engravings and paintings, this book will be essential reading for all those interested in Hertfordshire’s archaeology and garden history, as well as for students of garden and landscape history more generally.

    “This unique record of the shifting fortunes of Hertfordshire landowners and the changing fashions that shaped the county’s parks and gardens presents evidence uncovered and collated by the authors through systematic work on key sites. Anne Rowe and Tom Williamson combine their deep knowledge of the Hertfordshire landscape to produce a collection of compelling case studies. From Henry VIII’s fishponds and Francis Bacon’s water gardens, through the parks and gardens of newly rich incomers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, to the eighteenth‐century landscapes of Bridgeman and Brown, the research is clearly described and the results beautifully presented. This book is an invaluable addition to the county history and the wider literature of garden and landscape history, and a superb demonstration of historical landscape research carried out to the highest standards.”
    -Deborah Spring, Author

    About the Authors:

    Tom Williamson is Emeritus Professor of Landscape History at the University of East Anglia. He has written widely on landscape archaeology, agricultural history, and the history of landscape design. He has extensive experience not only of archaeological and documentary research, but also of applying historical information in the conservation, restoration and interpretation of historic landscapes.

    Anne Rowe is a landscape historian who coordinated research for the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust alongside Tom Williamson for 24 years from 1998.  Publications include Medieval Parks of Hertfordshire (2009 & 2019), Hertfordshire: A landscape history, co-authored with Tom (2013), and Tudor & Early Stuart Parks of Hertfordshire (2019).  Awarded a PhD by publication in 2020, Anne has recently been working with the Hertfordshire Environmental Record Centre to update the county’s Ancient Woodland Inventory.

    Available now from University of Hertfordshire Press: https://www.herts.ac.uk/uhpress/books-content/lost-gardens-of-hertfordshire

  • The elaborate gilded ceiling in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, a masterpiece of Tudor carpentry
    Events - Lectures

    EHAS AGM and Gordon Moodey Lecture 2026

    “Making the starry vault of heaven:
    Unlocking a masterpiece of Tudor carpentry at Hampton Court Palace”

    April 13, 2026 at 7pm, lecture at 7:45pm

    Please join us on Zoom for our Annual General Meeting, followed by what should be a very interesting lecture by Dr. Lee Prosser, curator of historic buildings at Historic Royal Palaces, on “Making the starry vault of heaven: unlocking a masterpiece of Tudor carpentry at Hampton Court Palace”.

    The ceiling of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace, with its gilded angels, is one of England’s greatest 16th-century architectural achievements.  Yet what appears to be a stone vault is entirely constructed in timber, and stands as a complicated creation of Henry VIII’s carpenters in the 1530s. A new research project has begun to reveal the fascinating story of its conception and creation.

    To attend the AGM, please use this link after 6:45pm: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88136330154?pwd=40A0KTGxfzBWHmfLy5sgjDOPFasvr3.1

    Tickets for the lecture are free, and can be booked separately on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-gordon-moodey-lecture-tudor-carpentry-at-hampton-court-palace-tickets-1984038159544

  • Detail from the cover of "Serfdom in Medieval England" by Mark Bailey
    Conferences - Events - Lectures

    HALH Spring Meeting and AGM

    May 16, 2026 at 11:00am

    Tewin Memorial Hall, 11A Lower Green, Tewin, Welwyn AL6 0JX

    The morning session will commence at 11.00 and will  include short talks from members of local history societies in  the county on items of current interest and research. The  afternoon session will commence with the AGM, followed by the Lionel Munby lecture.

    This year the speaker will be Professor Mark Bailey, Professor of Later Medieval History at  the University of East Anglia. He has researched extensively many aspects of late medieval social and economic history,  focussing particularly on evidence from manorial records. His  latest book, Serfdom in Medieval England, using the well documented St Albans abbey estates of Codicote, Norton and Winslow, analyses the effects of the Black Death on serfdom, its decline and how manorial lords managed their estates  thereafter.

    Admission is free for HALH members, £2 for visitors. For more information, contact the Hertfordshire Association for Local History.