Patrick Comerford
For many visitors, the Herb Garden at Erasmus Darwin House is still one of the secret delights of Lichfield, half-hidden off the Cathedral Close, behind the elegant Georgian house that faces onto Beacon Street.
Erasmus Darwin House is an independent museum that was once the home of the doctor, pioneering inventor and poet Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802). His research and writings laid the grounds for the work of his grandson, the biologist Charles Darwin.
I have often visited the house, where leading Midland intellectuals and industrialists in the Lunar Society met as Darwin’s guests, and I have tried – with little success – to delve into the supposed Darwin family links with the Comberford family … the elusive missing link.
At times in the past, I stayed in the Cathedral Close, in a room within sound of the cathedral bells and looking down onto the gardens of Erasmus Darwin House. But, while I have walked through the gardens on many times over the years, until this summer I have paid little attention to the tranquil Herb Garden at the back of the house.
I returned to the garden a few times this summer, and spent a little more time there in summer sunshine one afternoon a few days ago on my way to Choral Evensong in Lichfield Cathedral.
The garden invites visitors to discover the herbs used to season cooking in Darwin’s days, to learn about the medicinal qualities of the plants he used to treat his patients – often without charge – and to uncover the inspirations for his many theories and inventions.
Erasmus Darwin moved ito the house in Lichfield with his first wife Mary (Polly) Howard (1740-1770) in 1758 and lived there until 1781. He was a medical doctor and wrote many groundbreaking books. He translated Carl Linnaeus’s Classification of Plants into English – A System of Vegetables (1783/5) and The Families of Plants (1787) – and published in poetic form his two volumes of The Botanic Garden (1789).
Darwin cultivated a large garden on open ground at the edge of Lichfield. There he had space for an elaborate design with a variety of trees and plants as well as water features.
Doctors in the 18th century largely followed so-called ‘scientific’ medicine, often abandoning the simple herbal remedies of previous generations. However, apothecaries continued to offer a wide range of herbal remedied, powders, pills and ointments, using age-old plants.
The Museum and Herb Garden at Darwin House were developed in 1999 from what was then the Cathedral organist’s house in a £1.25 million project. Interesting features today include a relief sculpture of Erasmus Darwin and incised texts on paving slabs leading through the garden that were created by the sculptor Denis Parsons (1934-2012). He served a seven-year apprenticeship with Robert Bridgeman and Sons, Lichfield, and was referred to as ‘one of the country’s most expert architectural sculptors’.
The texts on paving slabs in the garden celebrate Darwin as doctor … scientist … inventor … evolutionist … poet …
The garden has of a number of linked but distinct areas.
The culinary garden, known as ‘Mrs Darwin’s Culinary Garden’, is beyond the entrance door and reflects the extensive use of herbs and spices in Georgian cooking, along with other domestic uses such as cleaning, scenting, dyeing, disinfecting and deterring unwelcome insects and animals.
In both beds there are selections of herbs for the kitchen that were used to enhance the flavour of food including thyme, mint, parsley, marjoram, sage, lovage and chives. There are also herbs for other domestic use – lavender and lemon verbena for potpourri and chamomile and lemon balm for herbal teas. Sweet Cecily took the acidity out of stewed fruits and elecampane was useful for making cough sweets.
The garden has then been further divided into four beds:
The Apothecary’s Garden, Bed 1 along the right hand side, includes traditional herbs that would have been supplied by 18th century apothecaries, who were the equivalent of High Street chemists today. Without the apothecary’s presence in every town, most people would not have had access to the advice or remedies they needed.
The apothecaries provided over-the-counter remedies for people seeking traditional products made from long-established herbal recipes. But they also made up doctors’ prescriptions that included more exotic ingredients as well as ‘chemical’ substances. Well-known herbs in this part of the garden include Marigold, Borage and St John’s Wort, as well as White Horehound, Soapwort, Bistort and Golden Rod.
Dr Darwin’s Medicine Chest is Bed 2 up the steps, and includes plants directly referenced in Darwin’s writings and reflecting the variety of plants in use at that time by a professional physician. It is a reminder that Darwin recommended opium – often in alarming quantities – mercury and ‘Peruvian Bark’, which contained quinine, for most of his patients alongside strong purging medicines and blood-letting.
This part of the garden includes some of the plants mentioned in his books, letters and Materia Medica or medicine list: Poppies for opium, Foxgloves for heart conditions, Pennyroyal for calming stomachs, Valerian for sleep, Chamomile and White Bryony as emetics and Rhubarb, a great favourite for ‘cleansing’. He also includes: Wormwood, Marjoram, Cardus Benedictus (Holy Thistle), Tansy, Parsley, Mint, Elecampane, Marsh Mallow, Thorn Apple and Squill.
The Dyer’s Garden, Bed 3 above the wall opposite, includes examples of plants that could have been used by professional dyers in Lichfield to produce the natural colours needed for fabrics.
Large-scale synthetic dyes were not yet developed in Darwin’s lifetime and the plants here are examples of those then used by professional dyers, including Alkanet, Tansy, Dyer’s Chamomile, Ladies’ Bedstraw, Madder and Woad.
The Scented Garden, Bed 4 further along on the left, has been developed to bring fragrance and colour to the house and the garden. Roses, Lavender, Rosemary, Chamomile, Pinks and Sweet Cecily are favourite traditional plants that combine in summer to bring fragrance and colour to the house and garden.
All the plants are labelled and a leaflet about the garden is available for visitors. Each bed also has a plant list and further historical information. Sometimes, a selection of plants are available to buy.
Volunteers manage the garden and carry out all the work, including planting, maintenance and the development of future plans. They are usually in the garden on Thursday afternoons and are happy to talk to visitors about the garden.
There is no charge to visit the garden but donations towards its upkeep are welcome.
For further information see: www.erasmusdarwinhouse.org
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