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An evocative collector’s pavilion
illustrating traditional medicinal uses of UK native plants
and their relevance to modern medicine
Through an evocative collector’s pavilion in the Gardens,
visitors can discover the lost world of an Edwardian herbalist.
The Field Hospital illustrates the traditional medicinal uses
of native species and also shows why feverfew, sphagnum moss,
leeches and maggots are finding a new role today. Situated
in a quiet grassy clearing near Brentford Gate, The Field
Hospital is an evocative temporary museum dedicated to the
medicinal uses of native species, showing how traditional
plant remedies meet modern medicine.
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Half hidden in the grass stands an old wooden garden pavilion
– as if someone has just cut back some undergrowth and
revealed this mysterious long forgotten building. Inside,
the hut has the atmosphere of an Edwardian collector’s
hut – everywhere there are Victorian cabinets and labelled
jars full of specimens, old prints and photographs, boxes,
bottles and collecting cases. Bunches of fragrant herbs hang
in bunches from the ceiling. Notebooks lie open on the desk.
First glance has suggested this is an old, forgotten place,
but closer inspection reveals someone is still living and
working here and some of the notes, pictures and newspaper
cuttings are definitely modern. Layers of time have been built
up here, but the past has not been forgotten, instead it underpins
the present.
The Field Hospital is a highly atmospheric setting, containing
fascinating information, but delivered in a variety of ways
through the labelled specimens, scrapbooks, notes and objects
positioned around the hut. The artefacts within underline
the idea that this is about rediscovering ideas that have
been around for a long time, but have been partly forgotten.
Visitors can learn the scientific facts behind old remedies,
and new discoveries about the medicinal properties of British
plants and other creatures. The Field Hospital also gives
a ‘health report’ on all the species highlighted,
describing those under threat, and those like the wart-biter
cricket which have recently been brought back from the verge
of extinction. The hut itself is a characterful structure,
built by artist and gardener Tim Cole, and made entirely from
reclaimed wood.
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