Hidden Winchester : ALAN SMITH & TIM COX
In his own words , he had decided to embody his work into the living rhythm of nature , where one knows that the seeds planted today , planned meticulously , will grow after four to five years into astonishing members of a forest of colours , but not without constant observation and the odd carefully managed curatorial intervention . The importance of the physical environment , often unnoticed and undervalued , has always been fostered at Win Coll . In reality , it is the subconscious vestibule of memory to the conscious day-to-day lives of the community which lives , studies and works there . And it is given the wise investment and worthwhile praise that it deserves , not least by those who tend it , rightly seeing themselves as custodians of 600 years of history . That investment of time and patience was needed in the redesign of War Cloister , where the balance between modern design and historic value had to be managed incredibly sensitively , reflecting a very common issue for the school . The research that went into each and every square patch of soil , however , did the endeavour justice . The choice of yew , with its poetic associations with the past and the future ,
can be fully understood , not least in the famous words of Walter de la Mare – “ The Yew alone burns lamps of peace ,/ For them that lie forlorn ”, as brilliantly celebrated in a 2014 edition of The Wykehamist . A vast amount of respect was given to the original mood and surroundings of the Cloister , which was originally designed by none other than the great architect Sir Herbert Baker , with a planting plan drawn up by Gertrude Jekyll . It is often in the quiet histories of our surroundings that we come to realise how fortunate we are . Or as Shakespeare ’ s Miranda would have it , “ How many goodly creatures are there here ! How beauteous mankind is ! O brave new world that has such people in it !” Alan and Tim tend not to go for the flashiness of modern gardening techniques . Avoiding the gaudiness and constant competition for attention that has even filtered through into horticulture , they choose , instead , to employ a philosophy of osmosis into their management of the school ’ s gardens . According to them , meditation and mindfulness play a huge part in ensuring that the backdrop to the boys ’ learning is one of a calming environment , rather than one encouraging modern pressures through the use
22 The Wykeham Journal 2016