The Little Sparta Trust has gathered a wealth of archival material relating to Ian Hamilton Finlay and the garden at Little Sparta. This has been donated by many artists, writers, academics, family members and collaborators who worked with the artist. The Trust intends to be a safe store for this valuable resource, but will also publish a selection on this website to give an insight into the history and development of the garden.
Photographs of the entrance signs to Little Sparta over the years, taken by Patrick Eyres.
A Short Introduction to Little Sparta
Ian Hamilton Finlay filmed in 1989 at Little Sparta, giving visitors instructions on navigating the garden and using the map.
Archive Photography – Richard Demarco
Richard Demarco’s black and white photographs of Stonypath from the dawn of the seventies onwards. Stonypath, 1970, probably top pond.
Harry Gilonis – Intimate Lettering – Ian Hamilton Finlay in Bristol (2013)
Transcription of a talk given at St George’s, Bristol by Harry Gilonis as part of the Arnolfini Gallery’s ‘Ian Hamilton Finlay Weekend’ in August 2013. Photographs taken by Patrick Eyres
Patrick Eyres – The Hortus Conclusus at Little Sparta
First published in the Garden History Society’s GHS News in 2009, this article by Patrick Eyres describes the context, conception and posthumous completion of the Hortus Conclusus – Ian Hamilton
A people’s Arcadia: the public gardens of Ian Hamilton Finlay in relation to Little Sparta
Written by Patrick Eyres, and reproduced with the kind permission of the editor, John Dixon Hunt, from Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, vol. 29, nos. 1
Ian Hamilton Finlay by Duncan Macmillan
Article written for the Lyon & Turnbull in-house magazine ‘Perspective’ by Dr. Duncan Macmillan following the death of Ian Hamilton Finlay in 2006. Published in January 2007. FinlayDuncanMacmillan
Stephen Bann – A Description of Stonypath, 1981
bannDescription During the late 1970s, Ian Hamilton Finlay became increasingly interested in the gardens created by English eighteenth-century poets. In particular, he admired the example of William Shenstone, whose garden
Sue Finlay – The Planting of a Hillside Garden
From Patrick Eyres’ New Arcadian Journal (No 61/62, 2007), here’s a fascinating article in which Sue Finlay tells, in her own words, how she experienced the beginnings of the garden
In a rare interview at Little Sparta, Ian Hamilton Finlay discusses the events which became known as the First Battle of Little Sparta, with reference to core ideas of spirituality