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Grand Beginnings

The first major figure in the history of the Garden was Sir Henry Danvers, who gave five thousand pounds (equivalent to £3.5 million today) to set up a physic garden for "the glorification of God and for the furtherance of learning". Today the Garden is still committed "to promoting learning and glorifying nature".

Despite the size of the benefaction, the walls and arches were built on such a grand scale that by the time they were finished in 1633 all the money had been spent and there was nothing left to pay for the running of the Garden. The Walls are in fact a perfect legacy as they enable us to grow a wonderful range of plants from around the World. The Walls you see if you visit the Garden today have not been significantly changed or modified since they were completed 370 years ago.

The Garden as a Source of Medicine

It was 1642 before the Garden was able to boast its first Curator. He was Jacob Bobart and for the first seven years the University failed to pay his salary. During this time he helped to make ends meet by selling fruit grown in the Garden. Among these fruits was the medlar (Mespilus germanica) that is listed in the Garden's first catalogue of plants that was published in 1648.

Not all of the plants were economically important. The oldest tree in the Garden is our English yew that was planted by Bobart in 1645. He planted many pairs of yew trees in the Garden simply for effect. For many years these trees were clipped into a variety of shapes, which is why the one remaining specimen is not as large as a yew tree of that age should be. It is most appropriate that the oldest plant in a former physic garden is a yew tree as this species is now the source of the drug taxotere that is being used in the treatment of breast, ovarian and cervical cancer.

Exchanging Seed Around the World

Bobart was succeeded as curator by his son, Jacob Bobart, who also took on the role of Professor of Botany at the University. The Garden was his great love. One contemporary visitor described him as being dirty and mistakable for the gardener. During his time at the Garden, Bobart the Younger compiled a list of species in the Garden from which he had collected seeds. This list was sent to other botanic gardens with the suggestion that seeds could be exchanged for mutual benefit. This was the forerunner of the annual seed lists that are now published and circulated by botanic gardens all over the World. Many of the plants growing in the Garden today have come to us through this International Seed Exchange. Each year we send our seed list to more than 400 gardens around the World.

Throughout the Garden's history there have been periods where it has fallen in to disrepair and this certainly happened after Bobart the Younger retired in 1719. The man who saved the Garden was William Sherard. He had been an undergraduate at Oxford and had then travelled extensively, collecting plants from around the World. He recognised the unfulfilled potential of the Garden and when he died in 1728 he left money to endow a professorial chair in Botany. Today's Sherardian Professor of Botany is Hugh Dickinson who leads an international research group in the University and yet continues to be Keeper of the Botanic Garden. Sherard attached a series of conditions to his donation. The most important being that the University should give £150 each year towards the running of the Garden, thus ensuring that the Botanic Garden receives an annual budget. Today the University annually gives £400,000 towards the running of the Garden.

Garden History is continued on page 3