You may be surprised to know that Carrick Hill is home to a unique antique garden tools collection. Kim takes us in for a look around and chats with Director Richard Heathcote! Nestled in the foothills of Springfield, Carrick Hill is Australia’s most intact twentieth-century heritage house, museum and garden. Set on approximately 40 hectares of land, including 26 hectares of native bushland, Carrick Hill was a bequest to the people of South Australia from the Hayward family and opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II in 1986. Along with housing internationally significant art collections, Carrick Hill is also home to a fascinating collection near and dear to us gardeners. Kim chats with Director, Richard Heathcote, who tells us all about it. Richard gives us a show and tell of the antique garden tool collection, including an antique bulb digging tool, and an unusual Edwardian gentleman’s pruning stick! The collection is divided into 6 sections of irrigation, tilling soil, grass/turf, pruning and propagation, children’s tools, and miscellaneous odds and ends. Richard even shows us a water cart which was used at the end of the 19th century, just after the First World War, which was used to water the garden if you didn’t have a hose long enough or a hose at all. Richard’s plan for the museum is to move it into a section of the house, as well as running various projects, the first of which being an exhibition this August called Endless Pleasure the Art of Gardens and Gardening. The garden tools in the collection at Carrick Hill filled with quirky and rare tools certainly reflects an era of craftsmanship and ingenuity you just have to admire. CARRICK HILL WATCH THE CLIP
