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Garden Museum Literary Festival 2026: Melbourne Hall

26 Jun - 27 Jun 2026

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Melbourne Hall © Andrea Jones

26 Jun - 27 Jun 2026

Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire

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Britain’s only travelling Literary Festival, set over two summer days celebrating the best in garden writing and what inspires us in gardens.

The next Garden Museum Literary Festival will take place at Melbourne Hall, Derbyshire, on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 June 2026, hosted by the Marquis and Marchioness of Lothian.

Join us for two days of conversation and inspiration, with talks by garden designers, writers and makers, with plenty of relaxed time to explore the gardens at Melbourne Hall in between.

About Melbourne Hall

With sweeping lawns, charming avenues, and captivating vistas, Melbourne Hall is a true treasure of early 18th-century English garden design.

It was laid out by Rt. Hon Thomas Coke, Vice Chamberlain to Queen Anne, with help from the garden landscape designers George London and Henry Wise in the formal style. It is noted for its long tunnel of Yew, its wrought iron arbour created by Robert Bakewell and its statuary by Jan van Nost, notably the Four seasons monument, a gift from Queen Anne.

The Marquis of Lothian took over running the Melbourne estate in 1987. His wife the Marchioness of Lothian is a painter of both portraits and landscapes. Her passion for gardening has developed the garden at Melbourne in many ways. Her eye for colour and detail means that the Melbourne garden is a haven of delightful and unusual specimen trees, shrubs and herbaceous borders.

Schedule

Specific timings of the day will be announced in due course.

Friday 26 June

11am – Marie-Clarie Lothian and David James, chaired by Jodie Jones
11am – Harriet Rix in conversation with Tania Compton on The Genius of Trees
12pm – Kendell Cronstrom and Alejandro Saralegui on Madoo: The Making Of An American Garden
12.10pm – Dr Patrick Eyres in conversation with Wesley Kerr on The Hero, The Princess And The Continents: Statues By John Nost I In The Garden At Melbourne Hall
2pm – Andrea Jones and Jodie Jones on Melbourne Hall Gardens
2.15pm – Matthew Parris on How I Got Where I Am Today
3.15pm – Francois Gordon in conversation with Tania Compton on Russell Page
3.05pm – Tim Richardson on The Landscape of Man
4.05pm – Lady Antonia Fraser in conversation with Gyles Brandreth on Lady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit and Lord Michael Howard of Lympne on Lord Melbourne, chaired by Victoria Valentine
4.15pm – Sonja Waites and Shane Connolly on Memories of Pullbrook & Gould
5.25pm – Gyles Brandreth and Alan Titchmarsh on Winnie-the-Pooh, Enchanted Places and the magic and humour of gardens
5.30pm – George Hudson on How Gardens Can (Or Can’t!) Change the World

Saturday 27 June

10.30am – Rupert Everett in conversation with Benjie Fraser on Rupert: A Life
10.30am – Jack Lindfield on Sandringham Gardens Then and Now
11.30am – Miranda Seymour in conversation with Victoria Valentine on A Radical Princess
11.35am – Philip Mansel on Versailles in England: The Influence of the Gardens of Louis XIV and Gabriel Wick on Anglomanie and The French Landscape Garden, chaired by Tim Richardson
12.30pm – Sandra Howard on The Thrill of Writing Novels
2pm – Cathy Haynes on Sensing Time Without A Clock
2pm – Robin Lane Fox in conversation with Tim Richardson
3pm – Arabella Lennox-Boyd in conversation with Christopher Woodward on Gardens In My Life
3.05pm – Orlando Reade on John Milton’s Garden Designs, chaired by Tim Richardson
4pm – Mary Keen on A Garden for Every Day of the Year (A small one), chaired by Tania Compton
4.10pm – Sarah Anne McNear in conversation with Sue Stuart-Smith on Edward Steichen and the Garden
5pm – Matthew Rice on Painting Your Garden