Hello, I'm Lucy Worsley, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces.

You're listening to our podcast that explores the history and stories of our six palaces.

These talks are a collection of some of our best live events.

I really hope you enjoy listening.

The history of the English Garden reveals more than expected about the past and its people.

This series explores the theme of gardens as places of work, rest and leisure.

In this talk, Historic Royal Palace's curator Suzanne Groom

enchance us with a description of royal gardens

and how they were used for rest.

Well, this was about rest in the garden.

What is rest in the garden?

Does anybody know? Does anybody ever experienced rest in the garden does anybody know has anybody ever experienced rest in the garden

because i never have it's something perhaps you aim us on a sunday afternoon and you go and sit

outside and you get a glass of wine or a nice cup of tea and then you think oh get that really nice lounger out of the garden

shed but of course it's stuck behind the lawnmower and everything else so you never get around to

taking this out so you say well we bought some new chairs last year i'll go and sit on one of those

but of course they need constant adjustment to get them quite right for your back so you do all those and you sit down eventually and you take a sip of your wine and you look around the garden.

And you think, my God, those roses need dead heading.

And that lawn, I'm sure I cut it's only a week ago.

That'll have to be done.

And the flower beds need, oh,

weeding, I would think. And look at those snails on the sunflowers, but we can't, we must be green.

...