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A summer of garden music at Berrington Hall

Visitors are invited to grab a picnic blanket and enjoy a summer of garden music at Berrington Hall, near Leominster. Berrington, owned by the National Trust, is hosting a programme of music in their walled garden, so visitors can enjoy the gardens as ‘Capability’ Brown originally intended.

From May onwards visitors will be able to enjoy a range of different styles and genres of music including jazz performances from the ‘FB Pocket Orchestra’, singing from local community choirs including the ‘Ludlow Larks’ and the ‘Surgical Spirits’ and many others including the ‘Conspiro Clarinets’ and the ‘String Workshop’.

All of these groups will be performing inside the ‘LOOK! LOOK! LOOK!’ pavilion, an eighteenth-century inspired art installation by internationally renowned artists, Heather and Ivan Morison. Created with the support of Trust New Art and the Arts Council England, the artists combined the history of eighteenth-century fashions, and their research of how the family might have used the garden.

‘LOOK!’ was designed to help raise awareness about the ‘Walled Garden and Pleasure Grounds Restoration Project’ at Berrington. This project aims to raise funds to reinstate and restore this rare ‘Capability’ Brown design back to its Georgian origins and conserve it for the future.

The musical programme is inspired by the Georgians’ love of gardens and music. Also upstairs inside the mansion at Berrington is a brand new exhibition on the first floor of the mansion, ‘A Dress Fit for a King’, accompanied by artwork ‘Eye am She’ by Herefordshire based artist Lorna J Brown. This new exhibition focuses on the life of Ann Bangham, wife to Thomas Harley, who was the original owner of Berrington. Elements of her original eighteenth-century dress can also be seen. Lorna J Brown connects ‘Eye am She’ to the gardens, as well as Ann Bangham, by incorporating the Georgian ‘Secret Language of Flowers’ into her artwork. This allows visitors to reflect on the life of Ann and the Georgian culture surrounding women.

More information about the exhibitions, events and opening times can be found on the Berrington Hall website www.nationaltrust.org.uk/berringtonhall