An exhibition inspired by the Japanese garden at Newstead Abbey is running until 31st August.

Ethel Webb’s Japanese Garden will look at the garden and also Japanese plants that have become a permanent feature of British gardens.

The Japanese Garden at Newstead Abbey was created under the direction of Ethel Webb, reputedly one of the best amateur gardeners in England, between 1899 and 1914.

The exhibition at the abbey also celebrates the cross-cultural exchange between Britain and Japan during this period.

It features a series of botanical illustrations loaned from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, alongside historical material and objects from the collections of Nottingham City Museums, which include Samurai armour, vases, painted screens, woodcuts, bronzes, and a temple bell.

Illustrations by leading British botanical artists include works by Lillian Snelling — said to be the most important British botanical artist of the first half of the 20th Century — Stella Ross-Craig, Ann V. Webster, and Walter Hood Fitch.

In connection with the Japanese Exhibition, the Midland Region of The Japanese Garden Society is organising a Japanese Garden Day at Newstead Abbey on Sunday, 10th July. It will include talks about Japanese gardens in the UK in general as well as the history of the garden at Newstead Abbey.

There will also be a guided tour of the Japanese Garden. Details can be obtained by contacting Philip at [email protected]

To view the exhibition go to newsteadabbey.org.uk for opening times and admission charges.