PARSONAGE GARDENS – ATTEMPTED RECREATION OF HISTORIC FUNCTIONAL AND SPATIAL LAYOUTS

Abstract

The article is devoted to gardens that were once the property of parsons – in this article, defined as parsonage gardens. They were part of church garden compounds, however, compared to other forms and projects of sacred greenery, they without a doubt attract much less attention. This translates into the fact that this particular term is not used in the literature of the subject, despite the fact that examples of such forms of green spaces can be found in Poland. In the article, we attempt to present parsonage gardens as having both utility and decorative functions, and representing a high degree of harmonization between man-made greenery and the surrounding natural and cultural landscape. The study analysed the shape and layout of such gardens, and their functional and spatial program against the background of the current status of three selected objects from southern Poland, each in a different state of preservation.