Rare gardening book to fetch £350

The gardens were created in 1909. Photo: VisitCumbria

A box of old books handed in to a charity shop turned out to contain a 100-year-old book by the Lake District's most famous gardener.

World-renowned landscape gardener Thomas Mawson wrote The Art and Craft of Garden Making in 1900.

First editions of his book are valued at £350 and staff at Oxfam in Kendal realised they had a collector's item when they spotted the old book.

They are to auction the volume to boost funds and thanked the anonymous donor.

The book was spotted by Muriel Burke, a volunteer at the Oxfam shop, who realised immediately it was special.

She said: "When the box came in there were a lot of oldish ones in it but I knew this one was a bit different.

Donor's 'trust'

"We had a book once valued at £300 so this is the most valuable book we have ever had at the shop."

Laura Ruxton, who also works at the shop, said volunteers are trained to spot valuable books.

She said: "The box contained other old volumes worth between £20 and £50 and all the money raised will go to a good cause.

"We would like to thank whoever donated the book, they obviously trusted us to sell it and make good money."

Thomas Mawson is widely regarded as the founder of landscape gardening and set up the successful Lakeland Nurseries in Windermere in the 1880s.

In 1908 he won a competition to lay out the gardens for the Palace of Peace at the Hague.

He also advised on the development of the Smoky Mountains National Park in the US and created the landscaped gardens at Rydal Hall, near Ambleside, in Cumbria in 1909.