Wednesday 27 August 2014

Fountain Garden, Formakin

Stockbroker John Augustus Holms and the celebrated Scottish architect Robert Lorimer met as fellow members of the Fine Arts Committee for the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1901. This friendship led to the building of the extraordinary and wonderful collection of buildings at Formakin in Renfrewshire near Glasgow. Holms, a passionate gardener started in 1903 by laying out the park and garden, taking advice from Gertrude Jekyll's whose work at Munstead Wood in Surrey was a great influence


The formal Fountain Garden was laid out to the north east of the proposed mansionhouse. The sundial at the center of the Fountain Garden is protected by four stone lion fountains.


Each of the four faces of the plinth supporting the sundial has an apposite motto from Sir Robert Lorimer for all us mortals.

'Today is thine'

'Misuse it not'

'Yesterday Returneth Not'

'Tommorow perchance cometh not'

The delightful garden pavillion in the corner of the Fountain Garden.


A few heart shaped stones laid into the path to the from the policies to the Fountain Garden take the breath away.
.



No comments:

Post a Comment