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David Lambert

MA, IHBC

David is an acknowledged expert on the conservation of historic parks and gardens, and has lectured and published widely on the subject. He has been influential in the development of heritage policy and is also a leading authority on researching the history of parks and gardens.

Professional experience

For 10 years David was Conservation Officer for the Garden History Society, the statutory consultee for planning applications affecting historic parks and gardens. He has been special adviser to three House of Commons select committee inquiries: town and country parks (1999), cemeteries (2000) and PPG17 (2002). He was a member of the parks panel of the Heritage Lottery Fund from its inception until 2002. He was instrumental in setting up Heritage Link in 2001, and is currently a member of the parks and gardens advisory panels of English Heritage and the National Trust. He is also a member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation.

Recent work for the Parks Agency includes:

  • Monitoring and expert advice on 33 park restoration projects for the Heritage Lottery Fund
  • Conservation Management Plan for West Norwood Cemetery, for the London Borough of Lambeth
  • Study of the historic and intellectual context for the Olympic Park, for the Olympic Delivery Authority (2007)
  • Design for new burial area, City of London Cemetery, with Kim Wilkie Associates for the Corporation of London (2007)
  • Report on the planning context and historic setting of Knightshayes, Devon, for the National Trust (2007)
  • Conservation Statement for Kensington Palace Gardens, with Todd Longstaffe Gowan, for Historic Royal Palaces (2006)
  • Report on the planning context and historic setting of Saltram, Devon for the National Trust (2006)
  • Conservation Management Plan for Strawberry Hill, with the Landscape Agency (2005)
  • Historic landscape survey of West Norwood Cemetery, for the London Borough of Lambeth (2005)
  • Advice on golf course design in historic landscapes, with Land Use Consultants, for English Heritage (2005). This won a 2009 Landscape Institute award (Highly Commended in Landscape Policy)
  • A survey of heaths, commons and village greens in Greater London, for English Heritage (2005)
  • Masterplan for Ruskin Park, London Borough of Lambeth (2005)
  • Needs assessment report on cemeteries for Heritage Lottery Fund (2004-05)Conservation Management Plan for the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium (2004)

Academic record:

  • MA, Exeter College Oxford, 1st class degree in English (1981)
  • Certificate in Planning Law, Bristol Polytechnic (1988)
  • Research Fellow, Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies,University of York (1987-9)
  • Senior Research Fellow, De Montfort University (1999-2002)
  • External examiner for the MA in Garden History at Bristol University (2004-)

Publications:

  • 'Rituals of Transgression in Public Parks in Britain, 1846 to the Present' Performance and Appropriation, Profane Rituals in Gardens and Landscapes Dumbarton Oaks (2007)
  • 'Keep a hard copy!' Garden Design Journal (August 2007)
  • 'Assets and liabilities: what's that park worth?' Green Places (May 2007)
  • 'Unspinning Enhancing Urban Green Space' Spaces & Places (December 2006)
  • 'From Manager to Conservationist' Journal of the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (Winter 2006)
  • 'The Meaning and Re-Meaning of Sculpture in Victorian Public Parks' Sculpture and the Garden Henry Moore Institute (2007)
  • 'All Rosy in the Garden? The protection of historic parks and gardens in the planning system' Journal of Architectural Conservation (2006)
  • 'The Cemetery in the Garden: 150 Years of the City of London Cemetery' London (2006)
  • Understanding and Valuing Your Park Heritage Lottery Fund (2006)
  • Researching a Garden's History with Peter Goodchild and Judith Roberts, Landscape Design Trust (2006)
  • 'Dazzled by Design' Green Places (May 2005)
  • 'The History of the Country Park, 1966-2005: Towards a Renaissance?' Landscape Research (January 2006)
  • Caring for historic parkland English Heritage (2005)
  • The Park Keeper English Heritage (2005)
  • Allotments - a CABE Briefing Paper CABE Space (2005)
  • 'The Gateway Project' Opening Doors: Learning in the Historic Environment Attingham (2004)
  • 'Victims of golf course blight' New Statesman (1 December 2003)
  • 'The Heritage Lottery Fund's Urban Parks Programme' Urban Parks Forum (2002)
  • 'Time for a Vision' Burgess Park: a New Urban Landscape for London' (2002)
  • 'Public parks and living cities' Context 72 (December 2001)
  • 'Meaningful community participation is not cheap' Landscape Design (June 2002)
  • Indignation: the Causes of Conservation with Mavis Batey and Kim Wilkie (2000)
  • Historic Urban Parks of Bristol Avon Gardens Trust (2000)
  • 'Buildings and Monuments' with Hazel Conway in The Regeneration of Urban Parks London (2000)
  • 'A tale of two cities: new public spaces in Paris' Landscape Design (September 2000)
  • 'Politics and Parks: Renaissance and Inertia' Cultural Trends (1999)
  • 'The folly of conservation: conservation in practice' New Arcadian Journal(1998)
  • Historic Urban Parks of Weston-super-Mare Avon Gardens Trust (1998)
  • Historic Parks and Gardens in the Planning System: a Handbook with Christopher Dingwall, Landscape Design Trust (1997)
  • Public Prospects: the Historic Urban Park under threat with Hazel Conway (1993)