Rolf Gardiner
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Henry Rolf Gardiner (5 November 1902 – 26 November 1971) was an English rural revivalist who helped to bring back folk dance styles including
Morris dancing Morris dancing is a form of English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A band or single musi ...
and sword dancing. He also founded groups significant in the British history of
organic farming Organic farming, also known as organic agriculture or ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2024 on organic production and labelling of ...
; his forestry methods were far ahead of their time and he was a founder member of the
Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...
. He sympathised with
Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...
, more specifically its pro-ruralist policies, and participated in inter-war far right politics. He organised summer camps with music, dance and community aims across class and cultures.


Early life

He was born in
Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
the son of Sir
Alan Henderson Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...
and his wife Hedwig, née Von Rosen. He was educated at
West Downs School West Downs School, Romsey Road, Winchester, Hampshire, was an English independent preparatory school, which was established in 1897 and closed in 1988. History Founding The school was founded by Lionel Helbert (1870–1919), with help from hi ...
from 1913,
Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...
, and then at
Bedales School Bedales School is a coeducational boarding and day public school, in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by Amy Garrett Badley and John Haden Badley in reaction to the li ...
. He was a student at
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
, where he was a member of the
Kibbo Kift The Kindred of the Kibbo Kift was a camping, hiking and handicraft group with ambitions to bring world peace. It was the first of three movements in England associated with the charismatic artist and writer John Hargrave (1894–1982). The Kindr ...
youth group. Initially he was a youth leader, involved in exchanges with Germany. He was heavily influenced in the 1920s by
D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...
; he visited Lawrence in Switzerland in 1928, and has been called his first genuine "disciple". In this period, he was also much concerned with English
folk dance A folk dance is a dance that reflects the life of the people of a certain country or region. Not all ethnic dances are folk dances. For example, Ritual, ritual dances or dances of ritual origin are not considered to be folk dances. Ritual dances ...
, and convinced
Morris dance Morris dancing is a form of English folklore, English folk dance. It is based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures by a group of dancers in costume, usually wearing bell pads on their shins, their shoes or both. A ban ...
revivalist
Mary Neal Mary Neal (born Clara Sophia Neal; 5 June 1860 – 22 June 1944) was an English social worker, suffragette and collector of English folk dances. Neal was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham, to a prosperous family. Her father was David Neal, a butto ...
that Morris was an essentially masculine form. He founded the Travelling Morrice in 1924, with Arthur Heffer, having taken a team of English dancers to Germany in 1922, and in 1923 met a few of the surviving dancers while walking in the
Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...
with the poet Christopher Scaife. Gardiner was not, however, a founder of the
Morris Ring The Morris Ring is one of three umbrella groups for Morris dance sides. It was founded in 1934 by 6 sides: Greensleeves, Cambridge, East Surrey, Letchworth, Oxford and Thaxted. Members may meet several times a year, each Ring Meeting being hoste ...
, set up in 1934.


Landowner

His uncle, the composer
Henry Balfour Gardiner Henry Balfour Gardiner (7 November 1877 – 28 June 1950) was a British musician, composer, and teacher. He was the son of Henry John Gardiner, a successful entrepreneur who made a considerable fortune in the drapery wholesale business in Brist ...
, bought Gore Farm in North Dorset in 1924. Rolf took over the farm in 1927 and continued what became a large-scale forestation project, based on training he had received at
Dartington Hall Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as ...
, with conifers and beech trees. Here he set up a support group, the Gore Kinship. He married Mariabella Honor Hodgkin in 1932; she was the daughter of the Irish fabric designer Florence Hodgkin. In 1933, he and 'Marabel' bought the estate at Springhead, near
Fontmell Magna Fontmell Magna is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, close to the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase, on the A350 road south of Shaftesbury and north of Blandford Forum ...
, Dorset. He became active in Dorset society, becoming a member of
Dorset County Council Dorset County Council was the county council of Dorset in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 2019. Throughout its existence, the council was based in Dorchester. Bournemouth and Poole were made independent from the county counci ...
between 1937 and 1946,
High Sheriff of Dorset The High Sheriff of Dorset is an ancient high sheriff title which has been in existence for over one thousand years. Until 1567 the Sheriff of Somerset was also the Sheriff of Dorset. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Governmen ...
1967–1968, President of the Dorset Federation of Young Farmers Clubs 1944–1946, Chairman and then President of the Dorset branch of the
Council for the Protection of Rural England A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...
1957–1972, as well as other rural and landscape committees and working parties. He and his wife developed the Springhead Ring as a music, theatre and crafts network, as well as farming the estate and developing forestry operations. It also hosted much musical activity. The rural writer John Stewart Collis spent a year after the Second World War working for Gardiner, thinning a 14-acre ash wood on the estate; this formed the material for his 1947 book ''Down to Earth''. Gardiner was a founder member of the
Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...
and applied organic principles to both farm and forest. The family owned tea-growing estates in
Nyasaland Nyasaland () was a British protectorate in Africa that was established in 1907 when the former British Central Africa Protectorate changed its name. Between 1953 and 1963, Nyasaland was part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. After ...
(now in
Thyolo District The Thyolo district of Malawi is one of the districts in Malawi. The capital is Thyolo. The district covers an area of 1,715 km.²1. and has a population of 458,976. It is also has crossroads leading to Makwasa, Molere, Konzalendo, Thek ...
, Malawi), known as the Nchima Tea and Tung Estate, of which Gardiner became chairman. He was active in the 1950s in dealing with colonial officials, with a view to conserving the underlying land. He had written about
erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
in Nyasaland and
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
already in the 1930s, in the ''New English Weekly''. The Nchima estate became the Nchima Trust in 1962.


Politics of the far right

He was editor of the magazine ''Youth'' from 1923, while a student. It had been founded in 1920, and at that point was left-leaning and supported
guild socialism Guild socialism is an ideology and a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public". It originated in the United Kingdom and was at ...
. In Gardiner's time it became internationally oriented and Germanophile, and his own political interests turned to
Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...
. He also published articles by
John Hargrave John Gordon Hargrave (6 June 1894 – 21 November 1982), (woodcraft name 'White Fox'), was a prominent youth leader and politician in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, Head Man of the Kibbo Kift, described in his obituary as an 'author, c ...
, with whom he had associated in the Kibbo Kift. After its split from the
Woodcraft Folk Woodcraft Folk is a UK-based educational movement for children and young people. Founded in 1925 and grown by volunteers, it has been a registered charity since 1965 Registered Charity since 2013. and a registered company limited by guarantee s ...
, Kibbo Kift was in transition, ''en route'' for the Social Credit Party of Great Britain and Northern Ireland ("Green Shirts"). It has been suggested that Gardiner moved from the ideas of guild socialism and social credit, current in the circle of A. R. Orage, towards a search for a masculine brotherhood, through his involvement in the "folk revival". His views of folk music and dance have been called "fundamentalist". In any case he took up with and formed small groups, rather than political organisations. He expressly rejected overtures made to him by members of Mosley's party, which at the time was gaining ground in rural areas in response to the effects of the depression and
tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...
collection on farming. Gardiner later broke with Hargrave, of whom Lawrence disapproved. In 1929, Gardiner was writing with approval in the ''
Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...
'' of the ''Jugendbewegung'' (
German Youth Movement The German Youth Movement () is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement included German Scouting and the ...
) and its anti-scientific outlook. He debated the German Youth Movement in 1934 with Leslie Paul, in the pages of ''
The Adelphi ''The Adelphi'' or ''New Adelphi'' was an English literary journal founded by John Middleton Murry and published between 1923 and 1955. The first issue appeared in June 1923, with issues published monthly thereafter. Between August 1927 and Se ...
''. In a series of publications from 1928, he articulated racial theories (Baltic peoples versus Mediterranean peoples) and the need for national reversals of "impoverishment" of the stock. It has been said that he was an "ecocentric" looking for a united and
pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
England and Germany, and a supporter of Nazi pro-ruralist policies. He reportedly expressed
anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
views from 1933, writing first in German. However, as his mother was half Austrian Jewish, this is unlikely, and in the late thirties he specifically repudiated this. His thinking moved from a belief in the honest value of work, to connection and belonging, and ultimately to a vision of the interplay between the health of soil, animals, crops and people. He was a member of the
English Mistery The English Mistery ("Mistery" being an old word for a guild) was a political and esoteric group active in the United Kingdom of the 1930s. A "Conservative fringe group" in favour of bringing back the feudal system, its views have been character ...
, and then of the
English Array English Array was a British fascist group and offshoot of the English Mistery founded and led by Lord Lymington. Foundation In 1930, the English Mistery was founded by William Sanderson. Sanderson was by all accounts a 'difficult' man to deal with ...
, formed in 1936. Writing in the Array's ''Quarterly Gazette'', Gardiner was an apologist for German "leadership" in Central Europe, dictatorships, and "racial regeneration". He later wrote for the periodical ''New Pioneer'', set up in December 1938 by Lord Lymington and John Beckett as a pro-German and anti-Semitic organ. After World War II, he kept in touch with
Richard Walther Darré Richard Walther Darré (born Ricardo Walther Óscar Darré; 14 July 1895 – 5 September 1953) was one of the leading Nazism, Nazi "Blood and Soil, blood and soil" () ideologists and served as Reich Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Reich ...
, an SS leader and NSDAP food and agriculture minister of the Nazi era, who had been one of the chief proponents of the links between a people and the land.


Kinship in Husbandry

In 1941 he formed with
H. J. Massingham Harold John Massingham (25 March 1888 – 22 August 1952) was a prolific British writer on ruralism, matters to do with the countryside and agriculture. He was also a published poet. Life Massingham was the son of the journalist H. W. Massing ...
and Gerald Wallop, Lord Lymington the ''Kinship in Husbandry'', a group of a dozen men with an interest in rural revival. It was a precursor organisation of the
Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity focused on the effect of agriculture on the environment. It was established in 1946. Their activities include campaigning for local purchasing, public education on nutrition and certificat ...
, which was set up in 1946. Original members were:
Adrian Bell Adrian Hanbury Bell (4 October 1901 – 5 September 1980) was an English ruralist journalist and farmer, and the first compiler of ''The Times'' crossword. Early life Bell was born at Stretford, Lancashire, son of Robert Bell (1865-1949), ...
,
Edmund Blunden Edmund Charles Blunden (1 November 1896 – 20 January 1974) was an English poet, author, and critic. Like his friend Siegfried Sassoon, he wrote of his experiences in World War I in both verse and prose. For most of his career, Blunden was als ...
,
Arthur Bryant Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant, (18 February 1899 – 22 January 1985) was an English historian, columnist for ''The Illustrated London News'' and man of affairs. His books included studies of Samuel Pepys, accounts of English eighteenth- and ...
, J. E. Hosking, Douglas Kennedy,
Philip Mairet Philip Mairet (; full name: Philippe Auguste Mairet; 1886–1975) was a British designer, writer and journalist. He had a wide range of interest: crafts, Alfred Adler and psychiatry, and Social Credit. He translated major figures including Jean ...
,
Lord Northbourne Baron Northbourne, of Betteshanger in the County of Kent, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1884 for Walter James, 1st Baron Northbourne, Sir Walter James, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Kingston upon H ...
, Robert Payne and C. Henry Warren. The group first met in Blunden's rooms at
Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...
, in September 1941. They drew ideas from agricultural experts:
Albert Howard Sir Albert Howard (8 December 187320 October 1947) was an English botanist. His academic background might have been botany. While working in India he was generally considered a pathologist; this more than likely being the reason for his consi ...
,
Robert McCarrison Major-General Sir Robert McCarrison, CIE, FRCP (15 March 1878 – 18 May 1960) was a Northern Ireland physician and nutritionist in the Indian Medical Service, who was made a Companion of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1923, (See p.3946 for list ...
,
George Stapledon Sir Reginald George Stapledon FRS (22 September 1882 – 16 September 1960) was a British grassland scientist and pioneer environmentalist. Early life The sixth of the seven children born to shipping agent William Stapledon and Mary Clibbert ( ...
and G. T. Wrench. Other members included Laurence Easterbrook and
Jorian Jenks Jorian Edward Forwood Jenks (1899 – 20 August 1963) was an English farmer, environmentalism pioneer and fascist. He has been described as "one of the most dominant figures in the development of the organic movement". Early life Born in Ox ...
. In official eyes, this grouping or think-tank was treated with less suspicion than its correlated far-right political organisations. It had some effect on agricultural policy, particularly in relation to self-sufficiency. It also affected the thinking of the
Rural Reconstruction Association The Rural Reconstruction Association (RRA) was a British agricultural reform movement established in 1926 with Montague Fordham as its Council Secretary, a post he held for 20 years.P. Conford, 'Finance versus Farming: Rural Reconstruction and Eco ...
founded in 1935 by Montague Fordham, and the Biodynamic Association.


Nudism

Gardiner published in his maiden issue of ''Youth'' in June 1923, a first-hand account of ''The Cult of Nakedness in Germany'' by Harold Barlow. It was one of the earliest attempts to introduce the German (
naturism Naturism is a lifestyle of practicing non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms ar ...
) movement to a general British readership.


Works

* ''The Second Coming and Other Poems, 1919–1921'' (Vienna 1921) * ''Britain and Germany. A Frank Discussion instigated by Members of the Younger Generation'' (1928) editor with Heinz Rocholl * ''World Without End: British politics and the younger generation'' (1932) * ''England Herself: Ventures in Rural Restoration'' (1943) * ''Love and Memory: a garland of poems'' (1960) * ''Europe awaits British Ecological Leadership'' (1972) * ''Water Springing from the Ground: an anthology of the writings of Rolf Gardiner'' (1972) editor Andrew Best


Family

His father was
Alan Henderson Gardiner Sir Alan Henderson Gardiner, (29 March 1879 – 19 December 1963) was an English Egyptologist, linguist, philologist, and independent scholar. He is regarded as one of the premier Egyptologists of the early and mid-20th century. Personal life G ...
, the Egyptologist. His mother Hedwig, née von Rosen, was Austrian, though with a Roman Catholic father and Swedish-Finnish mother. His sister
Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...
was a patron of artists and sculptors, and the mother of the historian
Martin Bernal Martin Gardiner Bernal (; 10 March 1937 – 9 June 2013) was a British scholar of modern Chinese political history. He was a Professor of Government and Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University. He is best known for his work '' Black Athena'', ...
. The composer
Henry Balfour Gardiner Henry Balfour Gardiner (7 November 1877 – 28 June 1950) was a British musician, composer, and teacher. He was the son of Henry John Gardiner, a successful entrepreneur who made a considerable fortune in the drapery wholesale business in Brist ...
was his uncle (the folk-song collector George Barnet Gardiner, with whom Balfour Gardiner worked, was not a relative). The conductor
John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, especially the Bach Cantata Pilgrimage of 2000, performing Church cantata (Bach), Bach's church ...
is his son. The artist
Howard Hodgkin Sir Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin (6 August 1932 – 9 March 2017) was a British painter and printmaker. His work is most often associated with abstraction. Early life Gordon Howard Eliot Hodgkin was born on 6 August 1932 in Hammersmith, Londo ...
is another grandson of Florence Hodgkin.


Legacy

Gardiner was a regular writer of letters to ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
''. In 2008, he was mentioned in that paper again in a report on the book ''Youth Culture in Modern Britain, c1920 to c1970'' by David Fowler of Clare Hall,
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...
, who praised "people like Gardiner" as "true cultural subversives – pop stars before pop even existed. In terms of the influence he had on giving Britain's young people a sense of identity, there's no doubt ardineris just as important as
Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...
".


The Springhead Trust

After Gardiner's death, the family placed the Springhead estate in the care of a trust which was registered as a charity – The Springhead Trust – in 1973. Rosalind Richards, daughter of Rolf and Marabel, was life tenant of the house; after her death in 2016 the charity took on management of the house. The estate hosts children and young people on day trips or longer stays, and is also a venue for weddings and other events.


References


Citations


Sources

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External links


Springhead Trust, Dorset
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardiner, Rolf 1902 births 1971 deaths Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge British naturists 20th-century English farmers English Nazis English people of Finnish descent People educated at Bedales School Organic farmers Social nudity advocates People educated at Rugby School