Lucy Stewart, "The Japanese Garden: Ella Christie and Cowden" (Birlinn, 2026)

About this episode

The episode discusses Lucy Stewart's book on Ella Christie and her pioneering Japanese garden in Scotland.

As detailed in The Japanese Garden: Ella Christie and Cowden (Birlinn, 2026) by Lucy Stewart, at the turn of the twentieth century, Scottish adventurer Ella Christie returned home from a trip to Japan inspired to build her own Japanese garden. As might be expected from a woman who thought nothing of travelling to the other side of the world in search of the unusual, Ella’s approach to developing the garden was trailblazing. She chose a female designer – the gifted Taki Handa – to create the seven-acre site in the grounds of Cowden Castle, near the Scottish town of Dollar. In doing so, the Japanese Garden at Cowden became the first and only garden of its size and scale to be designed by a woman. It remains a unique and utterly authentic bridge between British and Japanese culture. This book tells the remarkable story of Ella Christie, her travels and the creation of her garden, its gradual decline and triumphant restoration. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can…

People in this episode

Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher

Guest: Lucy Stewart

Topics covered

• Japanese garden
• Ella Christie
• cultural exchange
• women in design
• Scottish history
• biography

Keywords

• Japanese garden
• Ella Christie
• Taki Handa
• Cowden Castle
• biography
• cultural exchange
• women designers
• Scottish history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Birlinn

Places: Cowden Castle, Dollar, Japan, Scotland

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