The Historic Gardens Foundation is pleased to announce that the winners of its 2009 Prize for guidebooks to gardens in England and Wales are:

Lee Manor House, London

Hill Close Gardens, Warwick http://www.hillclosegardens.com/

The HGF decided to award this prize in order to celebrate the guidebook in all its forms, recognising that to enjoy a historic park or garden to the full, the visitor needs to know not only the whereabouts of the toilets and tearoom, but also the garden's history and the significance of its design. We wanted something that could be informative but also that could be held in the hand and read with
easy enjoyment.
Many of the entries were extremely impressive, but two in particular had the Wow factor, and these were judged to be the winners.
- Under the best leaflet category, Lee Manor House in Lewisham, 18th century gardens now used as a public park and library, won £500 for a stunning illustrated timeline.
- The best guidebook and overall winner was Hill Close Gardens in Warwick, which earned £500 and a £200 Haddonstone (http://www.haddonstone.com/) garden ornament voucher. The judges all agreed that the Hill Close guidebook was beautiful and innovative, packed with accessible and lively facts about its detached town garden plots.
The prizes will be presented at ceremonies later this spring.

Please click here to download a full article about the 2009 prize.

Click here for information about previous prizes.