Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)
Submitted by Amy Kingham on Wed, 12/02/2020 - 14:16
"There are eight acres of landscaped gardens here: over 200 trees, a topiary garden, an alpine bed, two-acre meadow, white sunken garden, walled garden and a hazel walkway to name but some,” begins Richard. “‘Capability’ Brown was responsible for the landscaping in the mid-18th Century. An exhibition about his work at Madingley is located in the gallery at the Hall.”
Alongside the impressive history, the garden continuously evolves with new features and plants to stimulate the minds of those who come here: “With our emphasis on planting unusual plants alongside the more familiar, hopefully we can inspire course members to take away an idea or a type of plant they’ve seen and try it in their own garden.”
Richard understands that the gardens’ inspiration goes well beyond seeds and cuttings. Stepping out after a lecture or meeting at ICE into such a stunning and diverse green space can cultivate a positive effect on the mind too. The World Health Organisation says that “green spaces can reduce health inequalities, improve well-being, and aid in treatment of mental illness,” and that impact is clearly appreciated by ICE students and staff who speak enthusiastically about their outdoor environment. Dr James Gazzard, Director of Continuing Education at ICE, describes the gardens as a place which “lifts your soul after a tough day of work or study.” In these gardens, there’s a sense that stresses dissipate and ideas germinate – a useful reminder that in such a fine setting, mental wellbeing can be nourished both inside and outside the lecture hall.
The gardens inspire learning in a more direct manner too, being utilised as part of several academic courses, as Richard explains:
“ICE runs a number of Garden History and plant-focused courses. For example, the medicinal border, which features plants used for culinary, dyeing and perfumery, as well as medicinal purposes, plays a key role in the Herbal Traditions for Health short course running at the end of June and the regular Medicinal Properties of Plants course. It isn’t only subjects directly related to plants that benefit from the garden though. It’s a great resource for everything from Biocuration to Practical Science Communication, and Derek Niemann, a country diarist in The Guardian, runs Creative Writing courses that utilise our natural surroundings.”
Equally important and very much in the current news is the role gardens contribute to the environment and ecology. The garden offers an important habitat for wildlife, where the coexistence of flora and fauna provides interdependent benefits and diversity.
Richard is passionate about as many people as possible being able to enjoy the gardens, especially given the wellbeing benefits they can bring:
“As well as being for ICE students and staff, we welcomed nearly 1,000 people from all over the world on guided tours and talks last year. We’re involved with the University of Cambridge Science Festival and the Open Cambridge programme and have a long-established partnership with the National Garden Scheme, who regularly open gardens to the public to raise money for charities. We published an updated edition of our Garden Guide in 2019 and have a variety of walk booklets available. An Autumn Walk in Search of Garden Fruit proved particularly popular last year, as did the Capability Brown guided walk leaflet and the Madingley Hall and Estate, Celebratory Booklet and Walk, which marked the 70th anniversary of the University purchasing these grounds. Whether people come for afternoon tea and a walk, are learning about botanical subjects or just need to take a breather from their studies, with the changing of the seasons there’s a lot for everyone to take inspiration from here. We hope everyone enjoys the garden"
To find out more about the gardens at ICE’s Madingley Hall home, visit: www.madingleyhall.co.uk/gardens
To find out more about short courses that use the garden as a resource, visit: www.ice.cam.ac.uk/short-courses
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This article was originally published as part of the 2020 Lent edition of Inside ICE.
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