Isabel Bannerman (born 14 March 1962) is a British garden designer and writer, known for her work in restoring historical gardens and creating new ones. Her portfolio features award-winning projects, including the gardens at Highgrove House, the private residence of King Charles III [1]
After buying a semi derelict Wiltshire mansion called The Ivy and exploring their mutual passion for building restoration and garden design, Isabel and her husband Julian Bannerman were invited to join a team building a modern grotto under British sculptor Simon Verity at Leeds Castle. This led to their first major commission from Jacob Rothschild at Waddesdon Manor where they re-purposed the Dairy Buildings into an office and venue and restored the water and rock gardens at the Dairy. Their work on this project was highly acclaimed, receiving both Civic Trust and Europa Nostra awards.
The Bannerman's founded their own garden design firm, I & J Bannerman Ltd. in1991, which has since become known for its garden designs. They were commissioned to design a stumpery at Highgrove House by King Charles in the late 1990s. [6]
In 1993 the Bannermans sold The Ivy and relocated to Hanham Court. There, they restored the court and established a garden open to the public. [7]
Simon Sainsbury and Stewart Grimshaw enlisted the Bannermans in 2000 to redesign the Entrance Garden and Pleasure Grounds area, as well as enhance the Long Walk at Woolbeding House in Sussex. [8]
John Robinson founder of Jigsaw later commissioned them in 2001 to design and develop the garden at Euridge Manor Farm in Wiltshire, where they also designed and built the modern medieval abbey where the garden is set. It is now a popular venue for weddings and events. [9]
The Bannermans were subsequently commissioned by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk to create "The Collector Earl’s Garden" at Arundel Castle in Sussex. [10] Another award-winning project was their restoration of the five-acre walled garden at Houghton Hall, owned by the Marquess of Cholmondeley. [11]
In 2010 the Bannermans completed the Queen Elizabeth II September 11th Garden, located in Hanover Square in the Financial District of New York City, after receiving an invitation to enter a competition to create the design. [12] The garden commemorates the 67 British victims of the 11 September 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. Queen Elizabeth II attended the opening on 6 July 2010. [13]
The couple then moved on to Trematon Castle in 2012, leased from the Duchy of Cornwall, where they created another garden that featured a medieval keep. [14] The duo also designed the garden at Wormsley Park, Buckinghamshire for John Paul Getty II and have played a major role in redesigning the gardens of Dumfries House in Ayrshire. [15]
The Bannermans moved to Ashington Manor in Somerset in 2019, where they are renovating and enhancing the property with a newly established garden and orchards. [16]
Throughout the years of their career Isabel and Julian have been invited to participate as speakers in various gardening and literary festivals, including The Chalke Valley History Festival, [17] The Garden Museum Literary Festival, [18] Charleston Festival of the Garden, [19] Dartington Hall Ways with Words [20] and at the New York Botanical Garden. [21]
Isabel Bannerman is also a published author, having co-written several books with her husband Julian, including "Landscape of Dreams: The Gardens of Isabel and Julian Bannerman" (2016) which features a foreword from the then HRH Prince of Wales [22] followed by Scent Magic: Notes from a Gardener (2019) [23] and "Husbandry: Making Gardens with Mr. B" (2021). [24] All three books were featured in The Sunday Times ‘Gardening Books of the Year’ list [25] [26]
Isabel has shared her expertise on gardening and the sensory experience of smell through various channels. Her insightful writings and podcasts have graced publications such as The Telegraph, [27] The Sunday Times, Gardens Illustrated, [28] and House and Garden Magazine. [29]
Isabel grew up in London. She met Julian in Edinburgh, Scotland where she was studying history and history of art at Edinburgh University. They have lived in several historical properties throughout their career, including Hanham Court near Bristol, Trematon Castle in Cornwall, and Ashington Manor in Somerset. [16]
Arundel Castle is a restored and remodelled medieval castle in Arundel, West Sussex, England. It was established by Roger de Montgomery. The castle was damaged in the English Civil War and then restored in the 18th and 19th centuries by Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk.
William Kent was an English architect, landscape architect, painter and furniture designer of the early 18th century. He began his career as a painter, and became Principal Painter in Ordinary or court painter, but his real talent was for design in various media.
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Eythrope is a hamlet and country house in the parish of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located to the south east of the main village of Waddesdon. It was bought in the 1870s by a branch of the Rothschild family, and belongs to them to this day.
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Nathaniel Charles Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild,, is a British peer, investment banker and a member of the Rothschild banking family.
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Penelope Hobhouse MBE, née Chichester-Clark, is a British garden writer, designer, lecturer and television presenter.
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Sarah Gildersleeve Fife was a prominent force among women bibliophiles in the first half of the 20th century and a leader in gardening and horticulture, advocating the use of plantings around army bases and military hospitals.
Woolbeding House is an 18th-century country house in Woolbeding, near Midhurst, West Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Dezeen is an online architecture, interiors and design magazine based in London, with offices in Hoxton, as well as New York City and Shanghai.
The office of Treasurer of the Conservative Party was established in 1911, along with that of Chairman, as part of a wider reorganisation of the Conservative and Unionist Party's machinery following the party's failure to win the general elections of January and December 1910.
Lynden B. Miller is an author, an advocate for public parks and gardens, and a garden designer, best known for her restoration of the Conservatory Garden in New York’s Central Park, completed in 1987.
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Julian Bannerman is a British designer of gardens and buildings known for his work on historical gardens in the UK including the restoration of the gardens at Highgrove House, the private residence of King Charles III.