British Cultural Garden

Address:
1131 East Blvd.
Architect/Designer:
John Boddy, head of forestry for the City of Cleveland
Sponsoring Organization:

British Consulate

Dedication Date:
April 14, 1916
History & Design:

A central flagstone walk on the British Cultural Garden's upper level leads to a bust of William Shakespeare. The bust was created by sculptors Joseph Motto and Stephen Rebeck.
A central flagstone walk on the British Cultural Garden’s upper level leads to a bust of William Shakespeare. The bust was created by sculptors Joseph Motto and Stephen Rebeck.
A central flagstone walk on the British Cultural Garden’s upper level leads to a bust of William Shakespeare. The bust was created by sculptors Joseph Motto and Stephen Rebeck.[/caption]
The British Cultural Garden is considered the first cultural garden in Cleveland, though its birth predates the official creation of the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. That occurred in 1927, when civic leaders declared that more than one culture should be honored in Rockefeller Park.

The Garden, originally called the Shakespeare Garden, follows an Elizabethan pattern. Its entrance on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive features gateposts of English design; they were built in 1925 as a memorial to Maria Leah Bruot, an English teacher and Shakespeare lover at Cleveland’s Central High School. The stone and iron gate was designed by city architect Herman Kregelius. There is a central flagstone walk on the garden’s upper level, leading to a bust of William Shakespeare. The bust was created by sculptors Joseph Motto and Stephen Rebeck.

The Garden was first suggested by Cleveland publisher Leo Weidenthal, a member of the city’s Shakespeare commemorative event committee that planned events to mark the 300th anniversary of the bard’s death. The garden’s dedication featured speeches from Mayor Harry Davis, musical renderings of Mendelssohn’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and dramatic readings of Shakespeare’s sonnets by actress Julia Marlowe. High school students dressed in Elizabethan costumes to escort guests to their seats.

City forester John Brody designed lush landscaping for the garden, with trees imported from England and Scotland and Juliet roses from Verona, Italy. Also contributing to the original garden were famous writers such as W.B. Yeats, and the actress Sarah Bernhard, who donated a decorative urn. The garden’s plantings included mulberries, roses, daisies, ivy and sycamore maples. Today, the British Cultural Garden is under redevelopment, with many of its original features having been removed over the decades.

Map: