Bibliography - Shirley Nicholson
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Nymans: The Story of a Sussex Garden, by Shirley Nicholson, published 30 July 1992 (xii + 176 pp. & 16 pp. of plates, Sutton Publishing, ISBN-10: 0750902043 & ISBN-13: 9780750902045) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

A history of Nymans garden in Sussex, now in the care of the National Trust, from its first planting by Ludwig Messel in the 1890s, to the present day. Published in association with the National Trust.

Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Gardens, by Quentin Bell and Virginia Nicholson, published 30 October 1997 (160 pp., Frances Lincoln, ISBN-10: 0711211337 & ISBN-13: 9780711211339) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

This volume encapsulates the artistic sensibility and casual sophistication of the Bloomsbury Group. In 1916, Virginia Woolf wrote to her sister, Vanessa Bell, that though the farmhouse at Charleston in Sussex was primitive, "you could make it lovely." Six months later, Bell moved in and, treating the house as a blank canvas, went on to create a treasury of Bloomsbury art. As the best remaining example of the decorative style of Duncan Grant and Vanessa bell, Charleston presents the visitor with insights into the art of the Bloomsbury Group. The book provides family memories and anecdotes drawn from a lifetime's experience of Charleston. Each room links the interiors with some of the leading cultural figures of the 20th century, guests such as Vanessa's sister Virginia Woolf and Lytton Strachey. Specially commissioned photographs portray the esence of the Bloomsbury style both throughout the house, with its painted furniture and walls, decorative items and paintings and in the garden.

Nymans: The Story of a Sussex Garden, by Shirley Nicholson, published 31 March 2010 (xii + 176 pp. & 16 pp. of plates, The History Press, ISBN-10: 0752455958 & ISBN-13: 9780752455952) accessible at: R.I.B.A. Library

Nymans forms one of a group of gardens in the Sussex Weald which were created before the First World War and are still beautiful today, their owners sharing a passion for new material brought back from all over the world by intrepid plant hunters. Ludwig Messel bought Nymans in 1890 and, with his head gardener, James Comber, began extensive planting of exotics, determined to prove that many supposedly tender plants could grow outdoors in Sussex. After 1915, his son, Leonard, carried on planting and raising new hybrids. In 1954 the garden was bequeathed to the National Trust. This historic garden is undoubtedly one of our national treasures and this book pays tribute to its history and beauty.