This exclusive day, arranged especially for the Garden Museum, will begin with coffee at the internationally renowned Fitzwilliam Museum, the art and antiquities museum of Cambridge University. Our guide for the morning will be art historian Sarah Burles of Cambridge Art Tours, who will take us on a tour of the galleries, focusing on objects and paintings in which plants, flowers and gardens are depicted and often hold a particular significance and meaning.
The Fitzwilliam Museum holds one of the country’s most important collections of botanical art and during our visit we will enjoy special access to this collection, much of which was bequeathed to the museum by Henry Rogers Broughton, 2nd Baron Fairhaven in 1973. The collection, which includes works on paper rarely on display, encompasses pieces by Jan Brueghel the Elder and masters of botanical painting Jacob Marrel, Georg Dionysius Ehret and Pierre-Joseph Redouté.
After lunch in the Garden Café of Cambridge University Botanic Garden, we have arranged a private visit to view some of the botanical treasures in the world-famous Cambridge University Herbarium with the Curator Dr Lauren Gardiner. The Herbarium houses a vast collection of more than 1.1 million modern and historic plant specimens, collected over the last 300 years from all over the world. We will have an exclusive opportunity to view plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin, and other renowned plant hunters, such as Nathaniel Wallich, Thomas Lobb and Richard Spruce. We will also have a chance to view items from the John Lindley Herbarium, which comprises 58,000 sheets of specimens and hand-coloured botanical illustrations. After tea and cake there will be time to explore the Botanic Garden at leisure, before departing.
Tickets
£135, Garden Museum Friends £105 (Find out how more about becoming a Garden Museum Friend)
Itinerary
We will meet at the Fitzwilliam Museum Courtyard café for coffee at 10.30am. No transport is provided as our venues are within walking distance or a five-minute taxi ride of Cambridge station. (Details of Park & Ride will be sent with booking confirmation, for anyone who prefers to drive and park nearby.) The day includes morning coffee, a seasonal two-course lunch with wine and afternoon tea.
This event has been organised by the Garden Museum’s Garden Visits committee. We recommend you read our Garden Visits Attendee Charter and Refund/exchange policy before booking your place on any of our Garden Visits.
