Michael Brown

I have been interested in history and gardening for as long as I can remember. As a child I was allowed to have a patch of ground to grow whatever I liked. My mother called the plants, ‘Weeds’. I called them wild flowers. I was fascinated by the strange names and the folk tales that such common plants had. I was lucky to attend a village school that had books about King Arthur, Greek myths and the Vikings. My imagination went into overdrive. I spent my childhood building camps, cooking (actually, more likely burning) food, over open fires, making bows and arrows and using cricket stumps for swords - I still find cricket very boring... I eventually became a qualified gardener and worked my way up to being a Head Gardener. Later I researched medieval gardens and the uses of the plants, which was very useful when I created the medieval gardens at the Prebendal Manor at Nassington, Northamptonshire. I studied for my MA in Garden History at Birkbeck, London whilst I was a full-time college lecturer. My first book was based on my most popular talk, Death in the Garden, about poisonous plants with tales of magic, murder and passion. The book was published by White Owl books and has gone into a second print run. It is availablethroughout most book outlets. I wrote a guide book for gardens at Pontefract castle. this is only available from Pontefract castle. I offer talks on subjects from garden history, including the gardens, plants and their uses and how they were maintained. As the Historic Gardener I offer displays of historical gardening at heritage sites. Another aspect of my interest in medieval history is recreatingof medieval pilgrimages using medieval clothing and equipment. I also play medieval and folk music on bagpipes, recorders, whistles flutes and a lyre.