This is a video I made of a restoration project for a Japanese style garden in the Scottish countryside which has been on going since 2014.
Built in 1908 then vandalized in the 1960s and left in a state of disrepair this stunning Japanese garden has recently been brought back to life and it is starting to look quite spectacular.
In the spring time it is a great place to practice Tai Chi and Yoga or just to take a quiet walk around the garden.
The garden was built by Isabella ‘Ella’ Christie of Cowden in 1908. Ella was born in 1861 and died in 1949.
Ella Christie's life was pretty interesting,she was quite a renowned world traveler.Between 1904–05 she travelled to India and then on to Kashmir, Tibet, Malaya, and Borneo.
"In a sheltered foothold of a grassy range of hills, that stretch from sunrise to sunset, lies the gardens of my dreams. As its background softly rounded hills breathe peace, after the fierce volcanic agencies that upraised them, and long aeons of time have moulded their forms into the undulating lines that encircle the surroundings of 'Shã-raku-en', The place of pleasure and delight. "
ELLA CHRISTIE AND ALICE STEWART
'A long look at life by two Victorians'
(Ella in The Japanese Garden in the early 1900s)
The garden is built on the grounds of Ella Christie's ancestral home Cowden Castle which was in a small town called Dollar in Clackmannanshire, Scotland.The castle was demolished in the mid 1950s.
(Cowden Castle in 1865 )
Between 1906 and 1907 Ella Christie embarked on a tour of China,Japan and Russia and was impressed by the gardens in Japan. At Yaami’s Hotel in Kyoto she met sisters, Ella and Florence du Cane, authors of: ’The Flowers and Gardens of Japan’ and was inspired to create her own Japanese garden back home in Scotland.
On returning to Clackmannanshire, Ella had the burn dammed in a 7 acre hollow at Cowden Castle, creating a small loch with an island in the middle. Taki Handa who was originally from the Royal School of Garden Design at Nagoya, but at that time studying at Studley College in England, was employed by Ella for two months to help create Shã Raku En, ‘The Place of Pleasure and Delight’
(Taki Handa)
From 1908 up until 1925 Professor Suzuki, 18th Hereditary Head of the Soami School of Imperial Garden Design at Nagoya, regularly visited Cowden to prune the imported shrubs and trees. He is said to have declared the garden: ‘The best garden in the Western World’. This was largely due to the garden being designed and maintained by Japanese gardeners.
(Prof Suzuki in Sha Ra Ku En)
From 1925 up until his death in 1937 a Japanese man by the name of Shinzaburo Matsuo, who had lost his entire family in an earthquake, came to Cowden and worked as a caretaker in the garden. He is buried in Muckhart Churchyard,both his and Ella Christie's grave sites are nearby each other and can be seen while walking the "Kirkyard Trail"
https://graveyardsofscotland.com/2018/12/29/kirkyard-trail/
(Shinzaburo-Matsuo)
In 1955 The Garden was opened to the public for the last time on May 28th in aid of St. James’s Church, in Dollar. Robert Stewart continued to give private tours and lectures to garden history groups.
(The Garden in 1955)
In 1963 some teenage punks broke into the garden and burnt the teahouses, bridges and knocked the lanterns and shrines into the water.
The garden lay dormant and unattended for 47 years until the the loch was dredged in order to clear the weeds and find the missing pieces from the lanterns.
(The Loch before it was drained)
In 2013 Professor Masao Fukuhara from Osaka University of Arts, Japan was appointed to begin restoration of the garden. The Professor is best known for winning the Gold Medal at Chelsea Flower Show as well as the restoration of The Japanese Gardens at Kew, London and Tatton Park, Cheshire.
(Professor Masao Fukuhara unearthing-lanterns)
Here are a few shots of the garden before and after restoration...
(The West Island before restoration )
(The West Island during restoration )
(The West Island after restoration )
(The North-slope-before-Restoration)
(The North slope after restoration)
(The East burn before restoration)
(The East burn after restoration)
Some images of the Garden before restoration in the Spring of 2012...
Some images of the restoration team hard at work in 2014
Thanks for checking out my post guys.My father and I usually make the trip out to Sha Raku En each spring but it is currently closed due to the shutdown like everywhere else right now.
In the near future I hope to get some 4k footage and some drone footage of the garden as it really is quite a beautiful a historic place.
BONUS :D
If you've made it all the way to the bottom of this post leave a comment saying "SHA RAKU EN! :D" and i'll tip you some Hive dollars :)
A J333 Production Spring 2020