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The Ladies Garden was Mrs Greville’s favourite place to sit and enjoy the view across the
valley to Ranmore Common and woods beyond. The garden is the resting place of Margaret
Helen Greville D.B.E.
The illegitimate daughter of the Scottish brewing millionaire William McEwan, and lodging Polesden Lacey, Surrey. NT
housekeeper Helen Anderson. Margaret was part of the newly wealthy smart set who were
competing to entertain the Prince of Wales, later to be King Edward VII. In 1891 she mar-
nd
ried Ronald Greville, eldest son and heir of the 2 Baron Greville and embarked on a career
as a high society socialite. In 1908 Ronald Greville died as did her father in 1913, which left
her a woman of immense fortune and independence which she took full advantage of.
th
The garden is most fitting a place, with a narrative set by the 18 century French ‘Quatre
Saisons’ statues that are placed in chronological sequence set against a yew hedging which
acts as a visual connective backdrop. The “Alter-Realist “approach to the composition ac-
counts for the order and progression of the seasons. referencing the Art Nouveau Movement
and poster design of the period. “The Four Seasons” were made up into separate canvases
with the background to each being coloured at the margins in order to assimilate continuity
of time. Each statue was coloured in tints appropriate to the season, thereby animating the
female statues and creating a distinctive narrative.