Created in collaboration with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), the RHS Bothy will be launched in the centre of the Great Pavilion at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show as a venue for a series of RHS interviews with women in horticulture. It will then move to the Orchard at RHS Garden Wisley, the flagship garden of the RHS, where it will make a striking centrepiece as part of an exciting project to reimagine edible growing at RHS Garden Wisley.
With an English ash writing desk inspired by Monty Don’s potting bench, shelves for well-thumbed garden books and an armchair for that all-important afternoon nap, the latest design from Dorset hutmakers Plankbridge evokes the heady, bucolic atmosphere of the Victorian bothy but with all the comforts of the modern age.
Many of the RHS Bothy’s design features have been inspired by visits to RHS Garden Wisley by Plankbridge owners Richard Lee and Jane Dennison, from the desk brackets, forged over Dorset charcoal, which were based on the boot scraper outside the Wisley Arts & Crafts Old Laboratory, to patterns drawn by Gertrude Jekyll from the RHS Lindley Collections, engraved in the desk back. In addition, the curtains and Roman blind have been made using RHS-endorsed fabrics.
The hut itself was inspired by a small brick-built, timber-clad structure that Richard recalls from his childhood. ‘I grew up in a former keeper’s cottage in bluebell woods near Wimborne in Dorset and there was a little bothy there that I can picture to this day,’ he explains. ‘So when the RHS asked if we could work together on a unique design, I took inspiration from their gardens combined with my childhood memories to create the RHS Bothy – an atmospheric and evocative space for modern times.’
Features include:
- Cast-iron wheels – a portable room you can take with you if you move.
- Corrugated iron cladding – for low maintenance and a long life.
- English timbers – as environmentally friendly as it can be.
- Insulated – built like a modern timber-framed house, it’s for year-round use.
- Electrics – 240v or off-grid solar.
- In a colour to suit your setting.
- Timeless design – taking inspiration from the gardens of the RHS and the heritage of times past.
The RHS Bothies will be on sale online and through in-person orders via the Plankbridge workshop from the launch in May 2023. They will all be made to order. Follow our social media pages and subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date as this exciting project develops.
® The Royal Horticultural Society. Trade marks of The Royal Horticultural Society (Registered Charity No 222879/SC038262) used under licence from RHS Enterprises Limited.
