Yorkshire Gardens Trust AGM 2026 - Members Only Voting

Running order of the day:

Coffee/tea and biscuits from 9.45am

Annual General Meeting 10.30 - 11.25am

Talk 11.30am

Hot Lunch starting at 1pm.

2.00pm Guided walk

This talk will examine women's engagement with garden design and landscape aesthetics in the eighteenth century, focusing on the letters written by the women of the ‘Wrest Circle’ – a literary circle that centred on Jemima Marchioness Grey (née Campbell) (1722-1797) at her ancestral home of Wrest Park in Bedfordshire. The women within this circle – Catherine Talbot (1721-1770), Elizabeth Anson (née Yorke) (1725-1760), Mary Gregory (née Grey) (1719-1761), and Mary Forbes (née Capell) (1722-1783) – shared not only a love of literature, but also a keen interest in gardens. Their letters are full of lively discussions and debates about their own gardens and those that they visited. Historical scholarship has usually focused on women’s limited or marginal engagement with gardens in this period, but this talk will demonstrate that, by returning to the letters in the archive, there is clear evidence that these women found their own ways to engage with gardens and share in the enjoyment together.

Jemima completed her PhD in 2021, which was an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Award with English Heritage and the University of Oxford, examining the connection between literary coteries and garden design in the mid-eighteenth century. She subsequently held a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford, researching elite women and the intellectual life of the country house. She also worked on a Knowledge Exchange Fellowship between the University of Oxford, English Heritage, and the National Trust, which explored the literary and garden connections between Wrest Park and Wimpole Hall. Since 2024, she has worked in the research team at Historic Royal Palaces.

Lunch menu options

Please make your food choice at the time of booking for both mains and desserts.

Mains:

Minted Lamb Casserole (Temple Newsam Lamb) served within a large Yorkshire Pudding with Mashed Potato covered in Minted Gravy and Green Beans.

Three vegan sausages served within a large Yorkshire Pudding with Mashed Potato and lashings of Gravy (V) and Green Beans.

Steak & Ale Pie served with Mashed Potato, Green Beans and beef Gravy

Vegetable Lasagne served with a Seasonal Salad and Garlic Bread (V)

Dessert:

Syrup Sponge and Custard

Blackberry and Apple Crumble served with Custard or Vanilla Ice Cream (GF)

Homemade Fruit Scone served with Strawberry Jam and Clotted Cream

Carrot Cake (GF)

Unlimited Tea, Coffee, Juice & Water

Please email events@yorkshiregardenstrust.org.uk if you have any food allergies.