Gathering Inspiration - Walled Tudor Gardens

Join me on an inspirational walk around the beautiful walled gardens of Cressing Temple Barns. 

A couple of weeks ago, armed with my trusty camera, I ventured into the walled garden at Cressing Temple Barns, to gather inspiration for my next pattern collection. 

I first stumbled upon this place by accident earlier this year. It was the Tiptree cafe that first drew me here, Tiptree is a famous Jam factory in the nearby town of Tiptree, which produces jams and condiments used throughout many cafes, particularly for my favourite - cream teas. 

After visiting the cafe, I googled the place and realised that Cressing Temple Barns is steeped in history. Dating back to 1137, the wheat and barley barns were built by the Knights Templar in the 13th century. If you would like to read more about them, they have a good write-up on the explore essex website. 

I returned soon after because I desperately wanted to explore the barns and walled gardens. This was back in early spring, so while the gardens were beautiful, I knew I had to return in summer to see them at their full potential.

And let me tell you, they certainly didn’t disappoint! 

These beautiful roses climbing on a wooden trellis were a favourite of mine. They look like they are straight out of a William Morris pattern.

The gardens in early June were absolutely stunning. I was first blown away by the wildflower borders which were in full bloom, and bursting with life. 

But the main reason I returned was their borders were full of plants typical of the Tudor period, from herbs and kitchen plants, to dye borders and medicinal plants.

The volunteers here have done an amazing job of recreating a Tudor pleasure garden, and it gives you a sense of what it could have looked like over 400 years ago. 

The row of Foxgloves were another favourite of mine. I’ve drawn these several times before in my previous Poison collection, so I have a particular fondness for this British Wildflower.

And as a surface pattern designer, it also gives me so much inspiration for new designs. Florals were a key component of Tudor textiles and featured heavily in their traditional embroidery and tapestries. I’m passionate about creating designs with more unusual plants, so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of using the plants from this garden as my inspiration. 

It also really helps to get out in nature again and immerse yourself in the environment you want to create in your designs. I feel in this digital age, it’s all too easy to look up reference images online, which stops us from adding personal connections to our work. It’s so important to venture out into the real world and gather inspiration with our own eyes, and our perspectives.

I believe it also adds a sense of personal connection and memory to our work because each design can tell a story of our travels and adventures. 

I’m looking forward to creating new designs inspired by this magical place and cementing this memory into my design portfolio. Stay tuned for future posts where I journal about my design process, and how this beautiful garden is inspiring my patterns.