When In Gnome

Long before the first gnomes began patrolling our raised beds and tutting at the state of our weeds, some people had real-life men residing among their roses and rhododendrons. Inspired by the garden retreats of Roman emperor Hadrian and Pope Pius IV, the wealthiest British landowners of the 18th century built lovely little hermitages and grottoes in their grounds. They soon ditched all notions of using them for their own solitary contemplation, and simply hired ornamental hermits instead, who dressed like druids and lived quietly in the garden to impress visitors.