W. E. Shewell-Cooper
Wilfred Edward Shewell-Cooper was a British organic gardener and pioneer of no-dig gardening. He wrote and published many books, including Soil, Humus and Health, The Royal Gardeners, Grow Your Own Food Supply, and The ABC of Vegetable Gardening. In 1966, he founded the Good Gardeners Association. For many years, his gardens at Arkley Manor were open to the public, allowing the results of his no-dig methods, indicated by a symbol featuring a robin resting on a spade handle, to be seen first-hand.
Childhood and education
Shewell-Cooper was born in Waltham Abbey, Essex in 1900. His father, E. Shewell-Cooper, was a major in the Royal Artillery and was also the assistant superintendent of the gunpowder factory in Waltham Abbey. From there, the family moved to Blackheath, London, and then to Penarth, Wales. Before the outbreak of World War I, the family set sail on the Galaka for South Africa, where they lived in Rondebosch, now a suburb of Cape Town. While there, he went to school at Diocesan College. When he returned to England, he attended Monkton Combe School just outside Bath.Family and career
Shewell-Cooper married Irene Ramsey Pennicott in 1925. He was a prolific author of gardening books and together they wrote a cookery book called Cook What You Grow. They had two sons, Ramsay and Jeremy.Over the course of his life, Shewell-Cooper held a number of positions, some of which are listed below:
- Command Horticultural Officer, S.E. and Eastern Commands
- Principal of the Thaxted Horticultural College
- Fellow of the Horticultural Society of Vienna
- Director of the Horticultural Educational and Advisory Bureau
- Hon. Superintendent of the Swanley Horticultural College
- Horticultural advisor to the Warwickshire and Cheshire County Councils
- Hon. Treasurer of the Westbank House, Hextable
- Garden editor of the BBC North Region