Peter Seabrook (1935-2022) MBE
Areas of Interest
Environment and AgricultureHonorary Award
Honorary Degree of Writtle University CollegeCitation
Writtle University College has great pleasure in awarding Peter Seabrook MBE an Honorary Degree.
Peter is a well-known horticultural consultant, gardening writer and broadcaster, who has worked as The Sun’s gardening editor for over 40 years. He was a presenter on Pebble Mill at One on BBC 1, Gardeners World on BBC 2, the BBC’s Chelsea Flower Show coverage and, for 20 years, Coast to Coast on PBS in North America.
He is well-recognised for his contributions to horticulture. He holds three RHS Awards: the Victoria Medal of Honour, Associate of Honour and the Harlow Carr Medal (for services to Northern Horticulture) and is believed to be unique in this respect.
His activities in the trade include being a founder member of The Garden Centre Association, the British Association of Landscape Industries and the Garden Media Guild. He promotes and represents the horticultural industry, continuing to inspire children to grow fruit, vegetables and flowers through a variety of school programmes.
As an alumnus of Writtle (completing his diploma in 1956), Peter is a fantastic ambassador for the University College.
Peter lives locally and has maintained strong links with Writtle. He was awarded a Fellowship in 1997 for his contributions to Writtle and, over many years, he has continued to make valuable contributions to the benefit of our students. This has included being a regular visiting speaker - in March 2007, Peter took part in a series of guest lectures at Writtle entitled New Plant Varieties are the Spice of Gardening Life and was the headline speaker at the horticulture lecture series organised by students.
In recognition of his services to the University College and the horticulture industry, it gives Writtle University College much pleasure to confer on Peter Seabrook MBE an Honorary Degree.