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Portsmouth, England, United Kingdom — Northwestern Europe (the British Isles)
 

The Porter’s Garden

 
 
The Porter’s Garden Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 30, 2018
1. The Porter’s Garden Marker
Inscription.
The Garden Today
The Porter's Garden covers part of the site of an earlier garden belonging to the Porter's Lodge, which was constructed in 1708 and is the oldest building in the Dockyard. It is the white building opposite the Visitor Centre at Victory Gate.

Over the years parts of the garden were built on and paved over until by the end of the last century nothing of it remained. As part of the Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour Millennium Scheme, a project part-funded by the Millennium Commission, the site was cleared and the present garden laid out during 1999-2000.

A voluntary group, the Friends of the Porter's Garden, planned and planted the new garden and in June 2001 it was formally opened by the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth. Main features include yew and box hedging, Morello cherry trees along the Dockyard wall and, on the other side of the road, four walnut trees. Flower beds follow the principles of 18th Century design, with exotic and useful plants commemorating voyages of naval exploration, and medicinal herbs for everyday ailments linking the garden to Mary Rose and HMS Victory.
Items of Interest
There are two statues in the garden. At the western end looking towards the harbour stands Captain Robert Falcon Scott with his dog, sculpted by Kathleen, Lady Scott, in
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1915. The gilded statue at the eastern end of the garden is King William III finished in the manner of the Caesars' by the sculptor Van Ost. William's wars against Louis XIV led to the expansion of Portsmouth Dockyard in the 1690s, and he was also an enthusiastic Gardener.

Beyond William and the potting shed is the rock found lodged in the hull of HMS Pique which ran aground in Labrador but successfully crossed the Atlantic to return home in 1835.

The dockyard wall, which defines the Porter's garden, was built in 1711, so that ‘Ill disposed people inclineing to Purloine, are shut out from doing hurt from the Land’.

The wrought iron gates were specially commissioned for the garden and were designed and made by local blacksmith, Peter Clutterbuck. The granite and iroko seats were made by Salisbury-based sculptor Roger Stephens, using granite slabs salvaged from the old dockyard cart tracks. This work was funded by a grant from the Onyx Environmental Trust under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme.

The Dockyard Porters
The Dockyard Porter was the public face of the dockyard, providing the essential daily link between the communities inside and outside the dockyard. He had three main duties. He guarded the dockyard boundaries and property and marked working hours by ringing the muster bell and closing the gate against latecomers.
The Porter’s Garden Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 30, 2018
2. The Porter’s Garden Marker
He prevented excessive theft of timber supplies by allowing ‘no Person to pass out of the Dock Gates with great Coats, large Trousers or any other outer dress that can conceal stores of any kind’. He also sold beer to dockyardmen ‘to enable them the better to carry on their labour and not to distemper them’.

Dockyard shipwrights and house carpenters worked on outside projects such as St George's Chapel, built in 1753. William Woodrow (Porter, 1739-80), described as a 'Gentleman' owned one of the larger ground floor pews costing £30.
Planting
Many of the perennial plants that bloomed in the garden in 2004 are listed. They are complemented in the beds by historically appropriate annuals and biennials.

Potting shed bed
Achillea millefolium 'Moonshine', Cistus monspeliensis, Clematis viticella 'Mary Rose’ flore plena, Digitalis grandiflora (syn. ambigua), Eryngium planum ‘Blaukappe', Helianthus decapetalus 'Loddon Gold’, Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro', Leptospermum, Narcissus bulbocodium, Narcissus ‘Grande Soleil D'Or', Phlomis fruticosa, Phlox paniculata, Salvia officinalis, Veronica austriaca subsp.teucrium

Electrical sub station bed
Artimisia abrotanum, Acanthus mollis and spinosus, Erysimum bicolor 'Bowles' Mauve, Hydrangea arborescens, Jasmine officinale 'Affine', Lavandula Munstead, Santolina chamaecyparissus,
The Porter’s Garden Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 30, 2018
3. The Porter’s Garden Marker
The Porter’s Garden
was opened on 21st June 2001
by the
Lord Mayor of Portsmouth
Councillor Elaine Baker
who also planted the
cercis siliqyastrum (Judas tree).
Wisteria sinesis prolifica

William III bed
Agapanthus, Allium Sphacrocephalon, Aquilegia 'Purple Emperor’, Camellia japonica alba plena, Camellia japonica imbricata (rubra), Delphinium dwarf dark blue, Eranthis hyemalis, Erysimum bicolor 'Bowles' Mauve, Eupatorium Purpureum 'Atropurpureum', Geranium maderense, Iris pallida, Iris x robusta ‘Gerald Derby', Lavandula stoechas 'Papillon’, Lychnis coronaria, Oenothera hookeri, Salvia officinalis ‘Purparascens', Teucrium hircanicum, Tilia x vulgaris, Tulipa Kaizerskroon, Verbena bonariensis, Veronica gentianoides ‘Tissington White’

Main lawn bed
Allium saptatum 'Alburn’, Chelone obliqua, Crocus versicolor ‘Picturatus', Cynara cardunculus, Echinacea purpura, Hyacinths (white, pink and blue), Hyssopus officinalis, Lavandula ‘Silver Spires’, Malus sylvestris syn M pumila ‘Hunthouse' Nepeta cataria, Narcissus ‘Paper White', Physostegia virginiana, Rosa 'Mary Rose’, Saponaria lembergeii ‘Max Frei', Tulipa tarda, plus Hibiscus syriacus ‘Elegantissima' in the comers of the lawn

Shady bed
Allium stipitatum ‘Album', Aconitum carmichaclii ‘Kelmscort', Astrantia major, Comfrey, Convallaria majalis, Ferms Dryopteris sieboldii and wallichiana, Eryngium pandanifolium, Galanthus nivalis, Geranium grandiflorum, Helleborus foetidus Westerflisk, Helleborus niger, Polemonium caeruleum, Polygonatum
The Porter’s Garden Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Michael Herrick, July 30, 2018
4. The Porter’s Garden Marker
The marker is behind the statue of Captain Robert Falcon Scott.
multiflorum, Primula x Polyantha 'Gold Laced’, Primula vulgaris, Thalictrum aquilegifolium, Tulbaghia violacea

www.hants.org uk/portersgarden ( photo caption )
Like many private residences in the Dockyard, the Porter’s Lodge had a substantial garden in which to cultivate vegetables, fruit and flowers. This plan of 1754 shows the house, stables and two small trees.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: EnvironmentParks & Recreational Areas. A significant historical month for this entry is June 2001.
 
Location. 50° 47.949′ N, 1° 6.429′ W. Marker is in Portsmouth, England. Marker can be reached from the intersection of Queen Street and Wickham Street, on the left when traveling north. Located in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Portsmouth, England PO1 3LR, United Kingdom. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Captain Robert Falcon Scott (here, next to this marker); The Jutland Gun (a few steps from this marker); The Ship Anson (within shouting distance of this marker); Mudlarks (within shouting distance of this marker); The Hard (within shouting distance of this marker); Beware of the Wolf (about 120 meters away, measured in a direct line); The Figurehead (about 120 meters away); The First Black Battleship (about 120 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Portsmouth.
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Credits. This page was last revised on January 27, 2022. It was originally submitted on March 22, 2019, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut. This page has been viewed 124 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 22, 2019, by Michael Herrick of Southbury, Connecticut.

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Mar. 29, 2024