These ghostly paths and flowerbeds once formed part of the elegant grounds designed and nurtured by Lady Johanna St.John, mistress of Lydiard House during the Restoration period. A recent historic drought revealed a remarkable secret. Aerial photographs captured faint outlines beneath the scorched grass—traces of 17th-century gardens that had long disappeared from view.
Lady Johanna was more than the lady of the manor. She was a skilled herbalist and a dedicated steward of her household and gardens. Her Book of Receipts, a meticulously assembled collection of remedies, recipes, and household advice, offers a rare glimpse into the domestic world of a 17th-century woman who combined practical knowledge with a love of plants and healing.
Johanna’s formal gardens, which once extended from the house to a canal (now a lake), appear in a 1700 plan of the estate and in Lady Johanna’s letters to her steward, Thomas Hardyman. These letters reflect her active involvement in the planning and care of the grounds—offering advice on planting schedules, choosing varieties, and maintaining flowerbeds.
Her gardens were not only decorative but also useful. The herbs and plants grown at Lydiard were crucial for the remedies in her recipe book. This was a time when many women managed their households through a blend of tradition, observation, and practical skill, and Johanna’s writing shows just how much knowledge was passed down through female hands.
Healing After Conflict
After the upheaval of the English Civil War, perhaps the act of planting itself brought a measure of peace. Lady Johanna’s marriage to her distant cousin Sir Walter St.John—a union that brought together the divided Cavalier and Parliamentarian branches of the St.John family—symbolised a quiet reconciliation. Her focus on curatives and cultivation speaks to a time of healing, both within her family and the wider country.
Changing Tastes, Changing Landscapes
By the mid-18th century, styles had changed. Johanna’s formal gardens were swept away when her grandson, Sir John St.John, remodelled the old house into a fashionable Palladian mansion. Inspired by the naturalistic tastes of the English Landscape Garden movement, sweeping lawns and ornamental lakes replaced the ordered parterres she had once tended.
Still, her legacy remains. The Book of Receipts survives, along with her letters, and now—thanks to modern aerial photography—even the outline of her garden has been revealed once more.
Remembering a Woman’s Place in History
Lady Johanna’s life reminds us how much women contributed to the fabric of daily life, even if their work was often confined to the private sphere. Through her writing and her garden, she left behind a legacy of knowledge, care, and quiet influence.
To learn more, visit the Lydiard Archives, where you can see the 1700 plan of the gardens and a 2021 interpretation by local artist Billy Beaumont.
In remembering the garden, we also remember the woman who shaped it—one whose work deserves its place in history.
I used many of Lady Johanna’s recipes throughout The Lydiard Chronicles. Her aunt, Lucy St.John, and her sister-in-law, Nan St.John, frequently made use of herbal medicine and curatives throughout their lives. Exploring Lydiard’s lost gardens and reading Lady Johanna’s recipes in her own hand was a writer’s dream.
How intriguing! Thank you for sharing.
Sylvia
You’re so welcome. I’d love to stage a pop-up garden based on those marks! Wouldn’t that be something to see…
It certainly would
Love your stories. I can just imagine the gardens and their beauty. I love English history!
Aww, thanks Martha! That’s so kind of you. I love it too!