Nations heritage is threatened by climate change – we must protect our history
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Nestled on the banks of the Thames in Richmond, south-west London, the National Trust-run 12-acre garden is threatened by floods, extreme weather and unpredictable rainfall.
While summer temperatures in some of the historic rooms soar to 95F (35C) so they have to be shuttered from visitors.
Head gardener Rosie Fyles and her team tend the grand estate meticulously but its waterside location makes it vulnerable when the Thames floods.
Rosie said: “There are big issues about how we manage the space for nature, for the environment…given that predictions suggest that those flooding incidents will happen more frequently and more severely.
“It has implications for how you manage the trees and what trees you might plant. The trees that we might pick today that will thrive today aren’t the trees that necessarily will thrive [in 100 years]. We’re thinking decades out.”
Rosie knows the 120,000 yearly visitors hope to enjoy on the same splendid sights first seen after King Charles I leased it to his childhood friend William Murray in 1626.
The Grade-I listed mansion of “exceptional national importance” was transformed by the courtier and later by his tenacious daughter Elizabeth, the Duchess of Lauderdale, into today’s imposing spectacle.
Rosie said there were major issues, such as replacing more than a mile of hornbeam hedge in a wilderness garden which is responding “quite badly” to modern-day extreme weather conditions: “If were starting again tomorrow, I would not be making these planting choices because we’d know they were unsustainable.
“There would still be period historic plants we could choose but it wouldn’t be these.”
Her team planted a climate-resilient apple orchard in the Ham kitchen garden.
Other measures to mitigate against weather risks include irrigation systems run from the house guttering, placing visitors’ benches in the shade and moving plants to areas that suit them better.
The three-storey mansion holds notable paintings, tapestries and furniture that are also at risk due to humidity, high heat and to water finding its way in.
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Some south-facing bedrooms hit 95F in the summer, forcing the Trust to bar visitors from them.
Megan Tanner, general manager, said sensors check water vapour levels: “We try to control extreme fluctuations in heat, humidity and damage from pests, diseases and dust. We are constantly fighting a battle against the sun.
“We want visitors to be able to see what’s in here but we also don’t want things to be damaged.”
The basement has suffered severe damage from damp. Summer flooding, plus increased rainfall in recent years, made Trust chiefs consider if the historic downpipes and gutters are enough.
- More details at nationaltrust.org.uk/ham-house-and-garden
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Historic houses are overwhelmed, says INGRID SAMUEL
Water cascading from gutters and pouring down the walls of historic houses during heavy rain shows how climate change is affecting our heritage.
Traditional downpipes, gutters and hoppers coped when the houses were built but today are often overwhelmed.
At Cragside, Northumberland, such rainwater has damaged a colossal 10-ton carved marble fireplace. Specialist conservators have prevented it from crumbling but it will take years to dry out. At other properties, tapestries have had to be rushed for conservation after becoming damp from flash floods.
We also increasingly face very hot summer days and drought, leading to shrinking soils and cracking buildings.
As one of the largest landowners, we are committed to being carbon net-zero by 2030. We are planting 20 million trees and restoring peat bogs, to slow water and capture carbon so nature can help.
By using science and our new climate change hazard map, making some careful changes and taking the long view, we know we can adapt to these changes in our climate.
- Ingrid Samuel is National Trust Heritage Director
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