UPPER PICTURE

William Turner 1508-1568 graduate of Pembroke College Cambridge, shown here, was Chaplain and Physician to Edward Seymour 1506-1552 the Lord Protector and first Duke of Somerset. A botanist and keen gardener, he helped Seymour establish a physic garden at Syon near Kew where we see the work being carried out in the MIDDLE PICTURE. Later he became the Dean of Wells cathedral in Somerset but was driven from the living for non-conformity. He moved back to London, retired and set up his own gardens at Kew and Crutched Friars. He is said to have introduced into this country Lucerne, which he called Horned Clover.

LOWER PICTURE

John Gerard 1545-1612 famous for his Herbal, was a botanist herbalist who, until 1604 was curator of a physic garden established in Knightrider Street in London by the College of Physicians. He then took up an appointment as a Doctor and herbalist to James 1st. and Queen Anne. Here he is shown holding a barbers pole and plate for he was the Master of the Barber Surgeons Company in London in 1607. In his left hand he holds the Lesser Skullcap, Scutellaria minor which he named as a species of Hyssop, an exciting find, the first recorded in England. He discovered it on an expedition he made with the Lord Mayor of London Sir John Hart in 1590 to view progress on the digging of springs at Highgate Ponds near Hampstead, to improve London’s water supply by running conduits down into the City. In the background is the entrance to the Flask Tavern, still a favourite watering hole in Highgate Village today.

GRAFTING TOOLS

A.  Pruning knife B. Slicing Knife