A Bristol University PhD student, Clare Hickman, has been honoured for her prize-winning essay by the prestigious Garden History Society, an international society promoting the study and protection of historic parks, gardens and designed landscapes.

Clare, who is studying for a History of Art PhD, won the prize for her essay describing a detailed account of the history of designed landscape entitled, ‘The Picturesque at Brislington House: The Role of Landscape in Relation to the Treatment of Mental Illness in the Early Nineteenth Century Asylum’.

Sir Roy Strong, eminent historian and President of The Garden Society, will present Clare with her prize of £200 and a year's free membership of the society.  She will also have her essay published in Garden History, the Society’s journal. 

Clare, commenting on her prize, said: “I am thrilled to have won the first Garden History Society Essay Prize. The subject of my essay is part of wider research that I am conducting as a PhD student at Bristol University. My PhD is a cross-disciplinary exploration of the design and use of therapeutic landscapes from 1800, and brings together aspects of garden and medical history.  I hope that winning the essay prize will be the first step towards an academic career in the field of Garden History.”

Two other Bristol University graduates received commendations: Jane Bradney for her essay, ‘The Carriage Drives of Humphry Repton’ and Elizabeth Cole for her essay, ‘Dunmore’s Folly? The Dunmore Pineapple, its Origins and Uses’.  Elizabeth completed her undergraduate degree and MA in Garden History at Bristol University and is now studying for a PhD at Cambridge University. Jane is currently completing her PhD at Bristol.

The prizes were awarded on Tuesday [24, May] at the Society’s Summer Garden Party, at the Geffrye Museum in London.