Elisabeth Whittle is a garden historian from

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. A former president of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and a trustee of the

National Botanic Garden of Wales The National Botanic Garden of Wales () is a botanical garden located in Llanarthney in the River Tywi valley, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The garden is both a visitor attraction and a centre for botanical research and conservation, and features t ...

, her published works include studies of the historic gardens of Wales and of the history of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

and Gwent. She is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London.

Career

For twenty-one years Whittle worked for

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

, the Welsh historic environment agency as their Inspector of Historic Parks, Gardens and Landscapes. She retired in 2014. She is a former president of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust and is a trustee of the

. Whittle, the holder of a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree and a fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

, lived in Usk,

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

for many years, but moved to Wilburton, Cambridgeshire in 2019. Following her relocation, Whittle took on the chair of the Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust. Whittle was a member of the

Garden History Society The Gardens Trust (formerly the Garden History Society) is a national membership organisation in the United Kingdom established to study the history of gardening and to protect historic gardens. It is a registered charity with headquarters in Lo ...

from the early 1980s and between 1989 and 1997 co-edited, with Jane Crawley, their journal ''Garden History''. She has a particular interest in Tudor and Stuart gardens. In 1991 she re-created the 15th-century garden of Sir Roger Vaughan at Tretower Court in

Powys Powys ( , ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county and Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county in Wales. It borders Gwynedd, Denbighshire, and Wrexham County Borough, Wrexham to the north; the English Ceremonial counties of England, ceremo ...

, Wales. She also discovered evidence of the 17th-century appearance of the gardens at

Raglan Castle Raglan Castle () is a Late Middle Ages, late medieval castle located just north of the village of Raglan, Monmouthshire, Raglan in the county of Monmouthshire in south east Wales. The modern castle dates from between the 15th and early 17th cent ...

, now destroyed, which has been published in the

guidebook. In 1994 Whittle led work on the compilation of the

Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales The Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales is a heritage register of significant historic parks and gardens in Wales. It is maintained by Cadw, the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and ...

to assist owners, developers and planners to manage the country's landscape heritage. She became a trustee of the Hobson's Conduit Trust in 2018 and vice-chair in 2020. John Newman, author of the ''Gwent/Monmouthshire'' volume in the Pevsner Buildings of Wales series, recorded his debt to Whittle in the foreword to his work.

Selected works

* ''Historic Gardens of Wales: An Introduction to Parks and Gardens in the History of Wales'' (1992) (OCLC 60058597) * ''Guide to Ancient & Historic Wales: Glamorgan and Gwent'' (1992) (OCLC 30739843)''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittle, Elisabeth Welsh people Welsh garden writers Welsh women writers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London