Editing American Museum and Gardens

{{Short description|Culture and arts museum near Bath, England}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox museum
| name        = American Museum and Gardens
| logo        = 
| image       = American Museum in Bath.jpg
| caption     = Claverton Manor, which houses the main museum collection
| former_name = 
| established = 1961
| location    = [[Claverton, Somerset]], England
| map_type    = Somerset
| map_caption = Location within [[Somerset]] and the United Kingdom
| coordinates = {{coord|51.3768|-2.3110|display=inline,title}}
| type        = 
| website     = {{Official URL}}
| embedded    = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=Grade I|designation1_number=1214609<ref name="NHLE">{{National Heritage List for England|num=1214609|desc=Claverton Manor (The American Museum)|access-date=1 September 2013}}</ref>}}
| founder     = Dallas Pratt and John Judkyn
| director    = Gareth Thomas
}}

The '''American Museum and Gardens''' (formerly '''American Museum in Britain''') is a museum of American art and culture based at [[Claverton, Somerset|Claverton]], near [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], England. Its collections of American furniture, quilts and folk art are displayed in a Grade I listed 19th-century house, surrounded by gardens overlooking the valley of the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]].

== Claverton Manor ==
The [[English country house|country house]] was designed for [[George Vivian (artist)#John Vivian|John Vivian]], a barrister who had purchased the manor in 1816,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=The History of Claverton Manor|url=https://americanmuseum.org/about-the-museum/history/the-history-of-claverton-manor/|access-date=2020-11-17|website=American Museum & Gardens|language=en-US}}</ref> by [[Jeffry Wyatville]] in 1819–20. It stands on the steep west slope of the Avon valley, above the Claverton village, and is about {{Convert|2|mi|km|abbr=}} east of the centre of Bath.

The house has three storeys and is built in [[ashlar]]. Its east elevation, overlooking the river valley, has full-height bows flanking three central bays with a projecting square porch, above it two [[Ionic order|Ionic]] columns [[in antis]]. The south elevation has five bays, the central three embellished with Ionic [[pilaster]]s under a [[pediment]] bearing the Vivian arms. A tall screen wall to the south has urns on pedestals, and a six-bay north wing containing service rooms has similar decoration. The building and walls were designated as Grade I listed in 1956.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1214609|desc=Claverton Manor (The American Museum) and Screen Walls to North and South|access-date=17 November 2020}}</ref> A two-storey coach house and stables were built to the south of the house, also in ashlar, around 1820.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1288479|desc=Former Coach-house and Stables|access-date=17 November 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

Earlier owners of the estate include Sir [[Edward Hungerford (died 1607)|Edward Hungerford]] (d.1607),<ref name=":0" /> a Member of Parliament, and (from 1609) Martin Bassett,<ref>{{Cite web|title=BASSETT, Sir William (1628-93), of Claverton, nr. Bath, Som.|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1660-1690/member/bassett-sir-william-1628-93|access-date=2020-11-17|website=History of Parliament}}</ref> whose son [[William Bassett (Royalist)|William]] (d.1656) and grandson [[William Bassett (died 1693)|William]] (d.1693) were also MPs. In 1758 it was bought by [[Ralph Allen]], owner of [[Bath stone]] quarries,<ref name=":0" /><ref name="scott">{{cite book|last=Scott|first=Shane|title=The hidden places of Somerset|publisher=Travel Publishing Ltd|year=1995|isbn=1-902007-01-8|location=Aldermaston|pages=16–17}}</ref> and in 1816 by John Vivian, who replaced the earlier [[manor house]] (near Claverton church) with the present house on its elevated site. Vivian's second son [[George Vivian (artist)|George]], an artist and traveller, developed the gardens and added the screen walls.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{cite book|last=Greenwood|first=Charles|title=Famous houses of the West Country|publisher=Kingsmead Press|year=1977|isbn=978-0-901571-87-8|location=Bath|pages=15–17}}</ref>

The estate had a succession of owners after it was sold by the Vivian family in 1869, and during the ownership of the Skrine family the gardens were in 1897 the venue for the first public speech by [[Winston Churchill]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wrigley|first1=Chris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBUslUOGOgkC&pg=PA131|title=Winston Churchill: A Biographical Companion|date=2002|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-0-87436-990-8|page=131|language=en}}</ref> The house was the headquarters of an [[RAF Balloon Command|RAF barrage balloon]] group during the Second World War.<ref name=":0" /> John Judkyn and Dallas Pratt, co-founders of the museum, bought the house and grounds in 1958.<ref name=":0" />

== Museum ==
The museum was founded by two antique collectors: [[Dallas Pratt]] (1914&nbsp;– 1994),<ref>[http://www.freshford.com/pratt.htm Biographical notes on Dallas Pratt]</ref><ref name="Wendorf">{{cite book |last1=Wendorf |first1=Richard |title=Director's Choice: The American Museum in Britain |date=2012 |publisher=Scala Publishers Ltd |location=London |isbn=9781857597721 |edition=1st}}</ref> an American psychiatrist from New York and heir to a substantial Standard Oil fortune; and his lifelong partner [[John Judkyn]] (1913&nbsp;– 1963),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Pratt|first=Dallas|title=Obituary of John Judkyn|url=https://www.freshford.com/judkin1.htm|access-date=2020-11-17|website=www.freshford.com}}</ref><ref name="Wendorf" /> a British designer and antiques dealer who took American citizenship.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kavanagh|first=Gaynor|date=1995|title=The American Museum in Britain, Claverton Manor, Bath|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2081918|journal=The Journal of American History|volume=82|issue=1 |pages=135–138|doi=10.2307/2081918 |jstor=2081918}}</ref> The museum was opened to the public for the first time on July 1, 1961, and remains the only museum devoted to American decorative arts outside the boundaries of the United States.<ref name="Wendorf" /> The museum's mission today stays true to the ambitions of its founders; to increase knowledge of American cultural history in order to strengthen the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom.

The museum remains a popular attraction, with well over 3 million visitors in total by 2012.<ref name="Wendorf" /> The former coach house is used by the museum for weddings and other functions.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Coach House & Stables|url=https://americanmuseum.org/about-the-museum/weddings-room-hire/coach-house-stables/|access-date=2020-11-17|website=American Museum & Gardens|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Richard Wendorf]], an American literary scholar and librarian, was Director of the Museum between 2010 and 2021.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Museum Director: Richard Wendorf|url=https://americanmuseum.org/museum-director-richard-wendorf/|access-date=2020-11-17|website=American Museum & Gardens|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Collection and exhibitions ==
The museum collection is displayed in the manor house and includes a variety of American cultural artefacts, decorative arts and antiques, as well as a series of Period Rooms covering a historical period from circa 1690 to 1860. These rooms are reconstructions of those from a variety of historic American interiors, including a late seventeenth-century Puritan home, an eighteenth-century tavern, and a sumptuous New Orleans bedroom dating from around the eve of the American Civil War in 1860.<ref name="Wendorf" /> The museum's collection also includes world renowned [[Shaker furniture|Shaker]] furniture, an extensive collection of over 200 [[quilt]]s and textiles (50 of which are on permanent display), a collection of over 200 antique historical maps, and the most significant collection of American folk art in Europe.<ref name="Wendorf" /> The museum collection includes works by a variety of artists, such as [[Susan Powers]] as well as the portraitists [[John Brewster, Jr.]], [[Ammi Phillips]] and William Matthew Prior. There are also carved eagles by Wilhelm Schimmel and Frederick Myrick.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanmuseum.org/default.cfm/loadindex.89 |title=Folk Art |publisher=American Museum in Britain |access-date=2009-09-11 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717140021/http://www.americanmuseum.org/default.cfm/loadindex.89 |archive-date=2011-07-17 }}</ref>

The museum also hosts a different exhibition every year exploring more recent American history. Recent temporary exhibitions have included The Colourful World of [[Kaffe Fassett]] and Shooting Stars: Britain and America in the 1970s (featuring the photography of [[Carinthia west|Carinthia West]]). These exhibitions are situated in the museum's external gallery, located in a separate building to the manor house. The museum's gift shop is also located in this building.

== Garden ==
The grounds of the museum are set within the wider landscape of the valley of the [[River Avon, Bristol|River Avon]] and has fine views over the valley towards the village of Limpley Stoke and the [[Kennet and Avon Canal]]. Garden features include a small [[grotto]] with a water spout.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1288475|desc=Grotto, 150 yards to south of Claverton Manor|access-date=17 November 2020|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

The museum gardens include extensive renovated areas representing trends in both English landscape and American garden design.<ref>{{cite book | last=Bond|first=James| title=Somerset Parks and Gardens | publisher=Somerset Books | page=51|year=1998|isbn=978-0861834655}}</ref> The American Museum originally employed [[Lanning Roper]] to design a mixed border, but since the museum opened in 1961, the 30 acres around the house have been developed to include a replica of [[George Washington]]’s garden at [[Mount Vernon]], as well as a Lewis and Clark trail, and an [[arboretum]] that includes a collection of American trees.<ref name="Garden">{{Cite web|title=Garden Visit website|url=http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/clav.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829202121/http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/clav.htm|archive-date=2008-08-29|access-date=2006-12-06}}</ref><ref name="Wendorf" /><ref name="Alvi">{{cite web|last1=Alvi|first1=Nas|title=New American Garden and Mount Vernon|url=https://americanmuseum.org/whats-on/new-american-garden/|website=American Museum & Gardens}}</ref>

The Mount Vernon Garden, which is a re-creation of a part of [[George Washington]]'s garden at [[Mount Vernon]], is situated away from the house on the site of a former Italianate garden and was opened on June 26, 1962.<ref name="Wendorf" /><ref name="Alvi" /> In 2018 the Mount Vernon Garden was restored to replicate more closely the original layout implemented by George Washington.<ref name="Alvi" />

With the addition of the New American Garden, officially opened on September 15, 2018, as part of a £2 million project to renovate the lawn and [[herb]] gardens immediately adjacent to the manor house, the museum grounds now boast the largest collection of American horticultural features in the United Kingdom.<ref name="Alvi" /> This project was the first European commission for the American landscape architects based in Washington D.C., Oehme van Sweden (OvS).<ref name="Alvi" /> The planting in the New American Garden follows the free-form style made famous by the firm's founders, Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden.<ref name="Alvi" /> Native American shrubs, perennials, and bulbs feature heavily, but the garden is designed to work with the steep terrain and enhance the view over the Limpley Stoke Valley, which is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).<ref name="Alvi" /> The new garden path, known as The Winding Way, is a fully accessible pathway encircling the lawns and American Rose Collection, as well as the natural amphitheatre, which has become the museum's outdoor theatre and events space.<ref name="Alvi" />

== Governance ==
The museum is run by a registered charity, overseen by a board of trustees.<ref name="charity">{{EW charity|1106989|The American Museum in Britain}}</ref> It was established by a [[Trust deed (real estate)|trust deed]] in 1959, registered as a charity in 1968<ref name="charity3">{{EW charity|200622|Claverton Manor or The American Museum in Britain}}</ref> and re-registered in 2004.<ref name="charity" />

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* {{Official website}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
[[Category:Museums established in 1961]]
[[Category:History museums in Somerset]]
[[Category:Decorative arts museums in England]]
[[Category:Folk art museums and galleries]]
[[Category:Textile museums in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Cultural history of the United States]]
[[Category:Gardens in Somerset]]
[[Category:1961 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Musical instrument museums in England]]