Reviving General Pitt Rivers’ dream, the Larmer Tree Project is giving hundreds of local children free days of discovery, art and poetry
A quiet corner of Cranborne Chase is transforming children’s learning – one verse, one beat and one flag at a time.
If you had wandered into the Larmer Tree Gardens on a Tuesday this summer term, you’d have found something a little more unexpected than the usual wedding party.
Small groups of primary school children would have been scattered across the lawns and groves, some reading poetry, some painting colourful flags, others beating out rhythms on drums.
This is the Larmer Tree Project, a new charity with an ambitious mission: to open up these historic gardens free of charge to local state schools, offering children a day that might spark something lasting.
General Augustus Pitt-Rivers created the Larmer Tree Pleasure Grounds in 1880, shortly after inheriting the Rushmore Estate. They were designed as a sanctuary ’to enlighten, educate and inspire’ his estate workers and guests. He took great pride in creating a unique space which they could share. He was the first in the UK to open his privately-owned gardens to the general public, and by 1899, the Larmer Tree Pleasure Grounds were welcoming more than 44,000 visitors a year. LLocal Olympian William Fox-Pitt is the latest in the family line of custodians. He and his wife Alice are passionate about continuing the General’s work in maintaining the magic of the Larmer Tree for future generations to enjoy.
‘When you walk into the gardens, you’re just immediately inspired,’ says Alice. ‘It has that wow factor – the trees, the calm, the sheer novelty of the place. We wanted to go back to the General’s original vision of “access, education and fun” for the grounds.’
‘It’s like a storybook setting before you even add anything,’ says Claire Gill, the founder of Storysock live-literature events for children, who leads the Larmer Tree Project. ‘We wanted to create an experience that helps children find their own voices, step out of their comfort zones and see learning differently.’
A different school day
Each school visit begins with an adventure. Children are greeted by the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit, in costume – who lead them on a tour of the gardens, where 38 poems are hidden among the trees. From William Shakespeare to Benjamin Zephaniah, the verses set the tone: this isn’t school as usual.
The day is divided into three workshops: in Spoken Word the children learn to project poems across the lawns, discovering how to speak with clarity and confidence. In the Art workshop, the children paint Tibetan prayer flags inspired by what they’ve seen – everything from peacocks to tree leaves. In Drumming and Rhythm, they’re encouraged to find a way to respond physically to the space. After lunch they gather in a big group for poetry readings and some more creative, meditative activities.
Breaking through
Alice and Claire agree that the results have been humbling. ‘We had a child who usually wears headphones because he can’t cope with noise,’ Alice says. ‘He took them off and joined the drumming workshop, completely comfortable. His teachers were watching with tears in their eyes.’ Another child who refuses to read in class was running from poem to poem, reading them out loud to his teachers. ‘They didn’t even know he could read,’ says Alice. ‘Because he was on the move and not confined, it just unlocked something.’
A growing vision
For Claire, the day isn’t simply about art or literacy. It’s about showing children that poetry, performance and creativity can belong to them. ‘We want to sow a little seed,’ she says. ‘If it gives them the tiniest bit of confidence to look outside what they normally do, that’s a start.
‘And it’s not just a single school trip. They are taking a poem back to school with them to learn as a group, and then they’re making headdresses for a pageant on the 15th July.
Every child who has attended this year will come back, and the prayer flags they’ve all decorated will be hung up like bunting throughout the gardens. They’ll all recite their poems on the day, and join in a mass drumming extravaganza at the end. They’ll be part of an extraordinary kind of production – so yes, it’s a wonderful school outing that hopefully unleashes creativity, but it also gives them a chance to perform in front of 500 other children, too.’
More than a pilot
Although this is its first year, both women can see the huge potential of the project. ‘This is just the beginning,’ Alice says. ‘The gardens have been used commercially for decades, but this is something entirely new – a return to the gardens’ roots as a place for everyone.’
Claire agrees. ‘It feels like the possibilities are endless. We’re already thinking about how to keep going through the autumn – maybe a winter solstice event – and bringing in more schools. We’d love to find a way to make this year-round.’
This first year, the project was funded by two local philanthropic private donors, but the project has just got charitable status and the team is working hard to secure support to sustain it. Transport has been the biggest challenge – buses are expensive, and most schools simply couldn’t have joined without help. ‘That’s where the collaboration has been so brilliant,’ says Claire. ‘Sandroyd and Port Regis, two local independent schools, have lent us their minibuses on Tuesdays. It’s made the whole programme possible. And other schools like Bryanston, Clayesmore and Sherborne have now stepped in with offers of help. That spirit of sharing resources so more children can have this experience has been really special.
‘We all know state schools don’t have budgets for this kind of thing, but that shouldn’t mean that children miss out.’
‘As I got on your land it got magical seeing all the flowers and the beauty of the place and it’s buildings.
One of my favourite parts was the poems. Just finding the poems felt fun, I loved when we readed each others poem.
Another of my favourite partst was when we played drums, when we got to the place we saw a peacock percing but with people scramming about nobody saw it. When we got to play it was like a parade full of drums and shakers playing.
The buildings felt anceint, the stage like a old, old stage.
I had a wondersul trip and I swear other people did too.
One of the best trips from Jack’
