I promised to share some of the stories we have been uncovering. One of the collections we have been considering is that of Stark and Son Ltd, of Great Ryburgh. I have copied below Bridget's retelling of the story for the Hardy Plant Society, Norfolk and Suffolk branch:
In among the collections relating to gardening and horticulture at Gressenhall
Farm and Workhouse there is a group of some hundred certificates and
awards won by George Stark and Son at shows across the country. This
includes a commendation by the RHS for Campanula Persicifolia “Ryburgh
Bells”, awarded in 1910, as well as a later award for the same variety given by
the Norfolk and Norwich Horticultural Society.
Stark and Son were nurserymen, seedsmen and florists first in Great Ryburgh
then moving to Fakenham at some point shortly after the First World War.
They closed in 1966. Peter Trent, a local historian and bellringer in Great
Ryburgh, has found out that George Stark came originally from Fifeshire to
be a gardener at Sennowe Park and married the daughter of a local grocer
and draper in the village, taking over the shop by 1891. The shop was almost
adjacent to the church in Great Ryburgh and George’s son Arthur became
a bellringer in 1891. Fakenham Local History Society hold a number of old
catalogues from Stark and Son, and future research in these may tell us more
about the history of the firm and for how long they sold “Ryburgh Bells”
Sadly it seems that “Ryburgh Bells” appears to be no longer in cultivation, or
at least it is not in the national collection of Campanula, although the RHS
hold a pressed specimen. The Ryburgh Bellringers would be thrilled to hear
from anyone who is still holding this old variety, as would the museum who
would love to be able to add a plant or two to Cherry Tree Cottage garden as
there is such an intriguing local story to tell.
It is these intriguing stories that make working with collections so interesting - you never know where you are going to end up next...
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