Stonehenge dahlia show uses thousands of Oxfordshire flowers

The Stonehenge dahlia shows, held between 1842 and 1845, attracted crowds of up to 10,000 people who came to view the flowers which were highly fashionable at the time.

Dahlia shows were held for four years until the event moved elsewhere, leaving 180 years between then and thousands of blooms being brought to Stonehenge this week.

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The dahlias grown at Dahlia Beach in Abingdon arrived on Tuesday and have been arranged into sculptures and a flower meadow by local groups.

Dahlia Beach flower farmer Andie McDowell said: “I’m incredibly proud to have supplied 5,000 cut dahlias and dahlia plants to English Heritage to celebrate a forgotten Victorian tradition: the Stonehenge dahlia show.

"In the 1840s crowds of up to 10,000 people would arrive at the stones to gaze at displays of prize-winning dahlias and flower sculptures and also enjoy cricket matches and brass band performances.

"To highlight and recreate the spectacle of the Stonehenge dahlia shows, floral sculptures, including a giant trilithon, have been fashioned by local flower arranging clubs and professional florists.

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"Not only we were asked to supply the 4,500 cut flowers, but we came up with the idea of creating a meadow of blooms at the site’s replica neolithic village.

“The perfect opportunity for the hundreds of potted dahlias that we’d grown for the autumn shows which then didn’t come to fruition.

"It’s been our biggest challenge to date so it’s just incredible to see all the hard work paying off. It goes to show that when one door closes, another door opens."

There is also a traditional flower show, featuring dahlias grown by local members of the National Dahlia Society, at the site’s visitor centre.

One of these dahlias will be crowned the Hero of Stonehenge in homage to a winning flower of the same title in 1842 which is now out of cultivation.

Louise Crawley, landscape historian at English Heritage, said the flower shows highlight how the Neolithic monument played a part in people’s lives long after it was built.

“Stonehenge has a much longer afterlife,” she said. “It is still the background to people’s lives all the way through.

“At that time, Stonehenge wasn’t a tourist attraction. You wouldn’t get hordes and hordes of people coming to visit.

“It was one of the main carriage routes and a local landmark but no more than that. As the dahlia shows turn up, more and more people turn up.

“You could argue that is part of the beginning of tourism at Stonehenge.”

Historians used local newspaper cuttings from titles including the Oxford Mail's sister newspaper Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette – now the Gazette and Herald - to research the dahlia shows.

In September 1842, the Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette described that year’s show at Stonehenge.

It reported: “Such a scene of gaiety was never before witnessed on Salisbury Plain … Parties of gentlemen and elegantly dressed ladies were scattered about in all directions.”

Arthur Parkinson, a gardening writer, described how there would have been a smaller number of varieties of dahlia on display during the Victorian shows compared with today’s offerings.

“I am so excited that English Heritage has decided to tell the story of the Stonehenge dahlia shows of the 1840s, and cannot wait to see which locally grown flower will be crowned the new Hero of Stonehenge,” he said.

“I’ve grown dahlias for some time and the heroes for me are the single and anemone varieties, which literally give life to a garden, brimming as they are with nectar and pollen for our precious pollinators.”

This year, nine teams of flower arranging clubs have put together sculptures featuring dahlias and greenery including ivy and eucalyptus.

These include an interpretation of the skyline across the Wiltshire landscape, a piece referencing the solstices at Stonehenge, hanging Indian wedding garlands, and buckets of dahlias.

Salisbury Flower Club has completed a giant trilithon structure, measuring more than 8ft tall and 6ft wide, which took seven hours to create.

Gill Pelton, chairwoman of the club, said there was a focus on sustainability during the arranging.

“Our piece is a small tribute to our ancestors in recognition of their amazing legacy,” she said.

“It is not small but of course it is small when you compare it against the stones.”

London florist Sophie Powell has also created floral crowns of dahlias for the show, referencing the large hats worn by Victorians.

She said the dahlia had varied in popularity during the years, including during the 19th century, but was now in demand again.

“In the past seven years, especially the past three years, dahlias are the flower that everybody wants,” she said.

“They come at a time when the weather might have started to change, so you can still have dahlias providing a really nice strong pop of colour.

“They are long-lasting and come in so many different varieties. All the dahlias here are British grown, which people in the floristry world are looking for more and more.”

The dahlia show will run at Stonehenge from Friday to Sunday.