Horse Chestnut

The Horse Chestnut is a deciduous broadleaf tree native to the Balkan peninsula.It was introduced to the UK from Turkey in the late 16th century and it began the process of naturalisation in the 17th century, after having become a favourite parkland tree of landscape gardeners. It is also popular with MK’s landscape architects, and especially with those of the Parks Trust, and as a result Loughton’s linear park and several of its streets have been planted with Horse Chestnuts. My next door neighbour has one in his garden, which overhangs my studio. However, the trees are not faring well due to climate change, coupled with several debilitating diseases. The trees remain small, and the leaves suffer from browning off in late summer.

The husks and conkers of Horse Chestnut trees can be used as a horse medicine. The seeds contain saponin, which can be added to shampoo. Chemicals extracted from conkers are also used to treat strains and bruises. In the past, I’ve used our local Horse Chestnut trees as an inspiration for quilting, eco-print making, embroidery and paper making, so I was curious to see how they would fare as a dye source. 

After steeping and simmering the husks and conker parings, and employing the four skein method I described for dyeing yew bark and chippings, I managed to obtain a range of browns. Form the left they are as follows: pre-mordanted with alum, with copper, with alum and a  modifying pinch of tin, with alum and a modifying pinch of iron.