20C Women in landscape design - FOLAR and The Gardens Trust
LEFT plant portrait by Marian Thompson; RIGHT Marian Thompson; PICTURE CREDITS: Thompson family papers
Speaker: Bruce Thompson
The work of Marian Thompson (Grierson) was driven by a love of plants and nature. She is fondly remembered not only for her professional achievements but also for her great sense of humour, infectious smile, enthusiasm, and ability to teach and inspire others. There was never a dull moment in her company.
She was born in Budapest to a Hungarian father and an English mother (both sculptors) who moved to England at the outset of World War II. Gardening was an integral part of her early family life providing food for the table and making beautiful settings for the odd sculpture. With an aptitude for the sciences and interest in plants, she studied Horticulture and later Landscape Architecture - wanting to use her knowledge of plants to create better places.
Marian began her career at Timothy Cochrane Associates before undertaking many commissions ranging from landscape restoration, new gardens, planting for public spaces to habitat creation. Notably, she was commissioned by Stanley Seeger to work on his Sutton Place estate and gardens of The Deanery. For many years she was also a part time lecturer at Thames Polytechnic (now Greenwich University). In retirement, she combined her passion for plants and watercolour painting, joining a plant-hunting group at Jardin Botanica in Brazil, where she explored and painted the coastal rainforest.
Bruce Thompson was exposed to Marian’s interest from an early age, studied Landscape Architecture and worked for Land Use Consultants. With more of an interest creating built places, he spent two years working in California, where he shifted towards property development. He now heads Development and Regeneration at Dorrington PLC.