In the early years, the practical day-to-day direction of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society's gardens was undertaken by the sub-curator, Henry Baines, who was involved with the gardens from 1829-1871; he had been born in a cottage over the medieval remains of St Leonard’s Hospital, near the present entrance to the gardens, and had done some of his first gardening (aged twelve) just outside the Multangular Tower. At first, he and his family had lived in three rooms in the basement of the Museum, much as the caretaker of the Centenary Chapel, St Saviourgate (1839-40), had a caretaker's flat in a semi-basement. But in 1844, a separate house was built for them. The house built for the Baines family mimics the architectural style of the fifteenth century buildings of the King’s Manor (Hogarth and Anderson 91-104). At present, the building houses Museum offices.
Links to Related Material
- The Formation of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society
- The Yorkshire Museum, by William Wilkins
- Museum Lodge
- Museum Gardens, York
- The Conservation of St Mary's Abbey's Ruins in the Yorkshire Museum's Grounds
Photograph by the author, 2023. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web project or cite it in a print one. Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Bibliography
Hogarth, Peter and Ewan Anderson. “The most fortunate situation …” The Story of York’s Museum Gardens. York: The Yorkshire Philosophical Society, 2018.
Created 23 August 2023