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Barnsley Gardens

© Vyvyan Lynn

Just out of Atlanta, a little piece past the Big Chicken you get the feeling you are close to something....peaceful. With little effort you drive your car through a spot where rock once existed. Instinctively you sense the promise of cool sweet air even if it is the middle of July. The first time observer experiences a hynotic aura already embedded in anyone who's spent fall days watching gentle variations of color grace the sides of mountains. You may recall a cool fall breeze that stirred you just so, touching you way down deep, something akin to the times mama wrapped you up in a warm blanket long ago.

To the traveler it seems a magic wand has been lowered from the heavens touching each tree with a slightly different hue highlighted by a kindly sun. Gliding down the interstate amidst five lanes of traffic, the sight is still somehow soothing. And if one were to put the cell phone away, this would be a good time to let the mind wander back to a period when travel was slower, when a trip to the Northwest Georgia Mountains involved a wagon train.

Sir Godfrey Barnsley came to live in America when he was 18 years old. He arrived in Savannah, Georgia in 1824, with little money in his pocket, but managed to amass a fortune as a cotton factor (broker) in a decade's time. He married Julia Scarborough, a young woman from a prominent Savannah family, on Christmas Eve, 1828.

Barnsley's eyes first looked upon the winsome wooded glens, springs, and gently rolling hills of Northwest Georgia while on a wagon train sightseeing expedition to Lookout Mountain. Around this time, Julia, weakened from frequent childbearing, became ill with consumption (tuberculosis). Concerned for his wife's wellbeing, Godfrey, reasoned the crisp clean mountain air would help ensure Julia's recovery.

Three years after Native Americans were driven from northwest Georgia on the infamous Trail of Tears; Englishman Godfrey Barnsley bought at least 4,000 acres of Cherokee land. He bought the very land where the wagon train camped on his sightseeing adventure. Godfrey and Julia shared an interest in plants and enjoyed discussing their plans for bewitching gardens. They dreamed of building a stuccoed Italian villa bordered by landscaped gardens. The Barnsley's garden designs were heavily influenced by noted horticulturist of the day, Andrew Jackson Downing.

Legend records the land Barnsley purchased was sacred to the Cherokee Nation. On Godfrey's first visit as owner of this northwest Georgia land, he found an old Cherokee man still living there. Barnsley hired the man to work for him, and allowed him the opportunity to continue living on the land. All was well until Barnsley told the old Cherokee brave he was going to shear off the bluff above the spring and build a mansion there. The old Cherokee was upset telling Barnsley the forefathers would be unforgiving if he destroyed the Cherokee's sacred land. Barnsley would not change his plans. It has been told that the old Cherokee put a cures on Barnsley and soon after left, never to be heard from again.

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