Mark Betteley, Vice-Chairman of Nantwich in Bloom, said: "The decision to rationalise the planters outside of the museum was taken by Nantwich in Bloom as we thought that four planters in one location was too many.

   "We therefore moved the biggest planter, adjacent to the rear entrance, to Morrison's supermarket car park, and the small planter to the entrance steps to the Museum.

   "We decided to plant the planter with herbs to celebrate the memory of John Gerard. While the Museum was not involved with the planting decision, they were consulted about the positioning of the planter.

   "The herbs are lavender, purple sage, blackcurrant sage, chamomile, thyme, chives, rosemary and parsley."  

lThe herbs in the John Gerard planter will remain in place until Spring 2014 when the state of the planter will be reviewed and, if necessary, herbs will be replaced. There are still plants in the planters at the front of the Museum.  

 

JOHN Gerard was born in Nantwich in 1545 and attended Willaston School, learning about plants in the town. In 1577 he moved to London and superintended the gardens belonging to Lord Burleigh in the Strand.

   Nineteen years later he published a list of plants he had grown in his own garden - the first catalogue of any garden ever published. And in 1597 he

published his celebrated “Herball”. Gerard was herbalist to King James I and notable people.

 

PETER Harrington, Chairman of Nantwich Walled Garden Society - which is campaigning to save the walled garden of the

now-demolished Townsend House - said in a letter to "Cheshire Life" in April 2012: "We wholeheartedly support the thought that John Gerard should be honoured by the town of Nantwich and as such have been campaigning for a decade to save and restore the 16th century Nantwich Walled Garden. 

  "Included within the Nantwich Walled Garden Restoration Plan (supported by the Herb Society) is a proposal to install a monument to John Gerard's achievements and memory.

   "We feel that siting such a monument in this historic, and potentially beautiful, location surrounded by herbs, flowers and horticultural designs of the period, could be the most appropriate setting for the town's tribute."

   While Townsend House stood behind a high wall in Welsh Row - now the site of King's Court, a gated complex - the garden is adjacent to Byron's Walk on the Kingsley Fields housing estate. It is now an overgrown area, surrounded by the original wall, a Grade 2 listed "building".

FOOTNOTE: With regard to the details on the planter, the generally accepted date of Gerard's death is February 1612.