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Audley End House

Thanks to a generous donation from the Friends of Audley End, we have recently acquired the diary of Thomas Challis, an 18th-century gardener. Our garden history volunteer, Susan Jellis, tells us about it.

Thomas Challis (1777–1845) was born in Cambridgeshire and worked at Audley End as a young man from 1795 to 1798.

English Heritage had already obtained the 1870s diary of the young Audley End gardener William Cresswell and published it in 2006 as Diary of a Victorian Gardener: William Cresswell and Audley End, but this handwritten book took the story of the kitchen garden back another 80 or so years into the late 18th century. The kitchen garden had been enlarged by Sir John Griffin Griffin (the ‘Lord Howard’ mentioned in the extract shown on the opposite page) in the 1770s, and had a somewhat old-fashioned ‘Green House’ with a slate roof, which was more like an orangery.

It has now been replaced by the Vine House. There was also a wall of lean-to glasshouses, which have all now gone. The diary brings it to life with its record of daily tasks throughout the year. An 18th-century diary of garden work is a rare thing and an exciting acquisition. Transcribing it helped me survive the dark days of last January and February’s lockdown. I am usually a garden history tour guide at Audley End, but that activity was off limits for a long time. From Cheveley to Standlynch The book, titled ‘Thomas Challis His Book 1792’, begins with a timeline of Thomas’ career, moving from place to place as was usual to gain experience. Starting in 1792 he worked at Cheveley Park in Suffolk from whence he came to Audley End. From 1798 Thomas worked in nurseries and other estates in East Anglia until 1802 when he moved to London, again working in nurseries, some well-known, such as Lee and Kennedy in Hammersmith. In October 1804, Thomas was employed in Billingbear Park as gardener to Lord Braybrooke, who also owned Audley End. By 1809 Thomas was gardener at Standlynch Park, Wiltshire, where he was to remain for the rest of his life. Standlynch, later known as Trafalgar Park, was from 1814 the home of Lord Nelson, older brother of Admiral Horatio Nelson, and his heirs.

Work dun at Audley End Thomas’ diary lists ‘Work Dun at Audley End’ (mainly on cucumbers and melons) and separately ‘Work Dun at Audley End in the Kitchen Garding’, virtually day by day from

December 1795 to February 1798. Every week he notes ‘Sunday’ (when no work is indicated) – apart from this and the very occasional ‘whet day’, only Christmas Day and once a year in March a ‘Farst [fast] Day’ appear to be work-free. In 1796 Christmas Day fell on a Sunday, so that was the only day off. Good Friday was a work day and 19 December 1797, marked as Thanksgiving Day (a national day of celebration for the naval victories of that year), was nevertheless also the day for pruning the currant bushes. Apart from on a Saturday in September, when he notes, ‘my dear sister Hannah was buryed’, there is no personal information recorded – and he still has ‘od Jobs’ (such as weeding or cleaning seeds). This reticence contrasts with William Cresswell’s diary, which often mentions William’s social activities and personal views on things.

Asparrowgus and mursherooms Apart from the personal note about Hannah, the diary is restricted to indicating when activities such as sowing, potting, planting and pruning (especially of the ‘spalyar’ [espalier] and wall fruit trees) took place, with a large range of fruit and vegetables being grown, including ‘harty Choaks’ [artichokes], ‘Asparrowgus’ [asparagus], ‘Skirrets’, ‘Schorznary’ [scorzonera] and ‘Salisfi a’ [salsify] – Thomas’ spelling is erratic and can alter several times in as many lines, sometimes phonetic and sometimes standard. Making hot beds, pits and ‘mursheroom’ beds was an important and regular activity, accommodating the repeated successional sowings in frames and under glass to provide a continuous supply of produce throughout the year. A pot of cucumber seed was planted on 28 December 1795, the seeds came up on 31 December and the fi rst cucumber was cut on 30 March. Also in March: ‘Gatherd the fi rst dish of french beans that was raised in the Greap [grape] house. Cut a brace of pine appels out of the rose house.’ The fi rst melon was cut in June. No tomatoes, however.

Daily duties Thomas was responsible for fl owers as well, sowing ‘tender anuels’ on hot beds and potting on seedlings: ‘Potted of Sum Cocks combs and sum bolsoms and plunged tham [them] in the tan in the rose house’. On 13 February he gathered the fi rst rose in the rose house; carrying roses in to force was a regular activity. Filling the ice house up on the hill with ice was another routine chore, as was mowing the ‘Mount Garding’ and the ‘Elyzon Garding’ [Elysian Garden] – both still need mowing to this day.

The interaction of the garden and the inhabitants of the house gets only an occasional mention: 11 July Gathering of rasberys [raspberries] and Curands [currants] for the housekeeper for Jams 10 October Gathering of Elder burys [elderberries] for House Keeper 13 April Loaded the wagon to go to London 18 April Our family whent to London The actual diary covers about 64 pages and the rest of the book is fi lled with copies of gardening treatises on the cultivation of vines, pineapples, and various fruit trees, snippets of general advice such as planting potatoes in a fi eld plus some recipes for making mead, ‘English Champaign’ from gooseberries, and currant wine among others.

A fascinating time capsule For those interested in 18th-century gardening, or kitchen gardening generally, Thomas Challis’ diary is a fascinating time capsule of his years working at Audley End at the start of his career and the end of Sir John Griffi n Griffi n’s long period of moulding the grounds to his personal vision. I was very pleased to make his acquaintance and delve into the garden activities of an earlier age. ■

The kitchen garden today Entry from Thomas Challis' diary for 16th June 1795

Thomas Challis' diary

DISCOVER MORE Find out more about the gardeners who worked at Audley End by viewing the history pages at www.english-heritage.org.uk/audley