Harry Dodson
Encyclopedia
Harry James Dodson was an English
gardener who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series The Victorian Kitchen Garden
, which featured his professional expertise and his reminiscences.
, his father was a gardener and his uncle was head gardener to the Earl of Selborne
.
He left school at 14, and over the next six years worked his way up from garden boy to journeyman.
When the Second World War started he served briefly in France
, but was discharged on medical grounds. He was appointed general garden foreman at Leigh Park
in Hampshire
. The large house had been commandeered by the Admiralty and Dodson's task was to grow enough food for several hundred people every day.
After the war he moved to Nuneham Park, near Oxford
, where he met his future wife, Kathleen.
In 1947 he was appointed head gardener at Chilton Foliat
, growing flowers and vegetables for the household in an extensive walled garden, with heated greenhouses and 200 yards of cloches. By 1967, the cost of maintaining the garden had become too high for its owner. He made it over to Dodson, who ran it as a commercial nursery.
He was a successful exhibitor at the Royal Horticultural Society
's shows, and in 1956 he joined the fruit and vegetable committee and served as a judge at its shows for nearly 50 years.
.
Finally, she discovered the walled garden at Chilton Foliat, and its head gardener, Harry Dodson.
He did not claim to be a Victorian gardener himself, but he had learned his trade from men who had been, and he understood the techniques they had developed.
The series was screened in 1987, when he was 68, and its popularity spawned three other BBC series - The Victorian Kitchen, The Victorian Flower Garden and The Wartime Kitchen and Garden. The accompanying books were best-sellers.
Dodson became a popular personality and in 1992 wrote his own book about growing vegetables, Harry Dodson's Practical Kitchen Garden.
He died at Chilton Foliat in 2005 aged 85.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
gardener who became a celebrity as a result of the BBC television documentary series The Victorian Kitchen Garden
The Victorian Kitchen Garden
The Victorian Kitchen Garden was a 13-part television series produced in 1987 by Jennifer Davies for BBC2. It recreated a kitchen garden of the Victorian era at Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire, although at the time the series was made Chilton Foliat was in the county of Berkshire...
, which featured his professional expertise and his reminiscences.
Early life
Horticulture was in his family. Born in ByfleetByfleet
Byfleet is an inland island village forming a suburb of Woking in Surrey, England. It is in the east of the borough between the River Wey and the River Mole, and is within the M25 motorway....
, his father was a gardener and his uncle was head gardener to the Earl of Selborne
Earl of Selborne
Earl of Selborne, in the County of Southampton, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1882 for the lawyer and Liberal politician Roundell Palmer, 1st Baron Selborne, along with the subsidiary title of Viscount Wolmer, of Blackmoor in the County of Southampton...
.
He left school at 14, and over the next six years worked his way up from garden boy to journeyman.
When the Second World War started he served briefly in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, but was discharged on medical grounds. He was appointed general garden foreman at Leigh Park
Leigh Park
Leigh Park is a large suburb of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It has four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park ....
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. The large house had been commandeered by the Admiralty and Dodson's task was to grow enough food for several hundred people every day.
After the war he moved to Nuneham Park, near Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, where he met his future wife, Kathleen.
In 1947 he was appointed head gardener at Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat
Chilton Foliat is a village and civil parish on the River Kennet in Wiltshire. The parish is in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is on the county boundary with West Berkshire and is about northwest of the Berkshire market town of Hungerford.-Parish church:The Church of...
, growing flowers and vegetables for the household in an extensive walled garden, with heated greenhouses and 200 yards of cloches. By 1967, the cost of maintaining the garden had become too high for its owner. He made it over to Dodson, who ran it as a commercial nursery.
He was a successful exhibitor at the Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
's shows, and in 1956 he joined the fruit and vegetable committee and served as a judge at its shows for nearly 50 years.
Television fame
In 1984, Jennifer Davies of the BBC was looking for a venue for a projected television program on traditional methods of vegetable gardening, to be called The Victorian Kitchen GardenThe Victorian Kitchen Garden
The Victorian Kitchen Garden was a 13-part television series produced in 1987 by Jennifer Davies for BBC2. It recreated a kitchen garden of the Victorian era at Chilton Foliat in Wiltshire, although at the time the series was made Chilton Foliat was in the county of Berkshire...
.
Finally, she discovered the walled garden at Chilton Foliat, and its head gardener, Harry Dodson.
He did not claim to be a Victorian gardener himself, but he had learned his trade from men who had been, and he understood the techniques they had developed.
The series was screened in 1987, when he was 68, and its popularity spawned three other BBC series - The Victorian Kitchen, The Victorian Flower Garden and The Wartime Kitchen and Garden. The accompanying books were best-sellers.
Dodson became a popular personality and in 1992 wrote his own book about growing vegetables, Harry Dodson's Practical Kitchen Garden.
He died at Chilton Foliat in 2005 aged 85.
Publications
- The Victorian Kitchen Garden Companion (BBC Books, UK, 1988) ISBN 978-0563363576
- Harry Dodson's Practical Kitchen Garden (BBC Books, UK, 1992) ISBN 978-0563207108