Yesterday (14 August) we were delighted to welcome over 50 families to a fun and educational summer event in our garden.  The day was supported by the Chairman of Braintree District Council Cllr. Lynn Walters and volunteers from Braintree Museum.  

Left to right – David Gask (Trustee), Chairman of Braintree District Council Cllr. Lyn Walters, Jennifer Rowland (Chair), Lesley Gamblin (Trustee) and Stewart Seymour (volunteer).

Nestled inside the Braintree and Bocking Public Gardens our garden was established in 1986 and features a range of plants that would have been familiar to John Ray in the 1600s. At the event families took part in an educational trail around the garden, discovering more about John Ray’s work. Ray lived from 1627 to 1705 and is heralded as the ‘father of natural history’, laying the foundations for the modern systems of classification, conducting the first scientific experiments on plants and establishing the importance of field work.

Seed planting

The activities helped visitors connect to Ray’s story in a fun way. The children made butterfly mosaics inspired by Ray’s study of the life-cycle of insects and planted seeds to take home. There was a dinosaur discovery pit and the children explored geological layers by making their own layered sand test tubes to take home.

Butterfly mosaics

Jennifer Rowland, Chair of the John Ray Trust, said “It was great to see so many families taking part in our garden trail and enjoying our crafts and activities. Visitors were amazed to hear just how much of the natural world John Ray studied and how many ‘firsts’ Braintree’s science hero had in the field of natural history. Thank you to our volunteers, Cllr Walters and to all the families who came along for making the day such a success.”

Dinosaur discovery

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