Author

Paige Johnson

Date

2007

Project Type

Master's Course thesis

Subject

Garden History

Datasets

Ordnance Survey 1st Edition (c. 1889) OS maps

Sources: Digimap

Dates/Editions: 1st Edition

Scale: Various

Related Subjects

Planning; Development

Keywords

GIS; Social Impact Assessment; Mega Urban Transport Project

Publishing Institution

University of Bristol

Summary

The Reverend George Muller's Orphan Houses were founded in Bristol in 1835 and by 1870 accommodated 2,050 children, most of whom had lost their parents due to tuberculosis. World famous in their day, the grounds and houses (still visible on Ashley Down) have been largely forgotten. I combined information from old photographs and eyewitness descriptions with the 1st Edition OS maps to create new maps of the landscape in which I was able to define the areas occupied by productive, decorative and play spaces; providing new insight into how the gardens supported the mission and function of the Orphan Houses. Most of the available outdoor space was given over to the production of vegetables which composed an important part of the children's diet and helped fulfil Muller's commitment to never make a request for funds except in prayer. The designated play spaces near each house demonstrated an enlightened approach to the needs of indigent children, and were early examples of children's playgrounds. Small decorative areas of ornamental planting at each house softened their austere architecture and were apparently tended by the children, one of whom later wrote 'the first love of gardening I learned at Number 5 (orphan house) with my little flower garden'. Access to the historical Digimap series was essential to delineating this fascinating landscape.

Images

Productive spaces (vegetable gardens) are shown in green, playgrounds are in purple.

Other Information

Paige Johnson maintains a number of blogs about her interests, which can be found here. She is now a nanotechnology researcher at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma.