Abstract
THE purchase by East Mailing Research Station of the adjoining property of Bradbourne will provide a background of more than ordinary interest for the future activities of the Station. Originally a moated Tudor house built around an open courtyard, Brad-bourne was transformed in the early eighteenth century into a typical Queen Anne mansion. From the Station's point of view, the estate of 200 acres is an even more important acquisition than the house itself, providing opportunity for future development of field experiments under conditions which are typical of much of the fruit-growing land in Kent. The open ground in the district has already been largely built over, and had Bradbourne been allowed to suffer a similar fate, the expansion of research activities of the Station in future years might have been seriously hampered. The prompt action taken by the committee in securing the estate when it came into the market has met with encouragement and support from the Government and from several important public bodies including the National Trust, the Council for the Preservation of Rural England, the Pilgrim Trust, and the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. An enterprise of this nature which will mean at one and the same time the safeguarding of land for the development of scientific research and the preservation of a green belt in an area rapidly becoming industrialized, should have a double appeal: to those who think well of East Mailing as a research centre, and to those also who approve of keeping part at least of the 'Garden of England' unspoilt. Such a project as the purchase and maintenance of Bradbourne must necessarily entail a heavy strain on the Station, and it may be several years before it is free from financial anxiety. Hence any contributions towards paying off the debt for the purchase and restoration will be welcomed by the Director, East Mailing Research Station, Near Maidstone, Kent.
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East Malling Research Station. Nature 141, 1090–1091 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/1411090d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1411090d0