Brian Creasey

Funeral Details

The funeral will be held on Friday the  8th July 2016 at 4pm

Address : Halstead Rd, Braintree CM7 5PB

And afterwards for tea and cake (From 6pm)  at Easton Lodge Gardens (Park in the Gardens car park not the house).

All that knew Brian are welcome to attend either or both.

Thanks

Obituary

Brian Gaylor Creasey - 12/11/1934 – 19/6/2016 (Aged 81)

Brian Creasey the eldest son (Brothers Leslie, Duncan & Mark) of Gaylor Creasey and Mary Janet Creasey (nee Leslie) was born in the Hertfordshire village of Knebworth.

He was educated at Alleynes Grammar School, Stevenage and then Bishops Stortford college and it was here that he picked up his love of gardening after joining ‘The Alpine Rock Garden Society’ run by the Latin Master Chas Mellows. He was a good long distance runner and played rugby for the college and Welwyn Garden City Rugby Club.

He served his National Service in The Royal Artillery (The Gunners) at Oswestry and it was here that he met his long term friend Roy Kemp (designer of the 007 gun logo, Bombay Sapphire Gin Bottle and Spangles wrappers). Brian was proud to be present lining the streets at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

In 1958 following he married Diana Ramsey at St Mary’s Church set in the grounds of Knebworth house.

In the mid-sixties following a split in the family business he started Countryside Hire Ltd with an old second hand comma van, over the course of twenty-five years he built this up to a fleet of over 600 vehicles and employed over thirty staff.

The company was innovative in putting customer service and its staff first in an industry that had a pretty poor reputation in this respect. A well-known figure in the rental industry he held the annual ‘Ides of march’ lunch the idea being that instead of stabbing each other in the back his competitors should talk about the industry problems and work together to improve quality. The company was sold in 1990 to the French company VIA.

In 1971 Brian and his young family moved into Warwick House the remains of ‘Easton Lodge’ seat of The Countess of Warwick (Daisy) . Part of the east wing of the house was all that remained after successive fires and demolition, over a period of 30 years he brought the house up to a scratch but it was the gardens where he had the biggest impact, using reclaimed materials and his own manual labour he almost singlehandedly restored the gardens that had lain undisturbed for 30 years.

In the 1990’s he acquired a further 4.5 acres of the original gardens including the original footprint of Easton Lodge as well as gaining permission to restore a further 23 acres.

With the help of volunteers and funds raised by successfully opening the gardens to the public the remaining gardens were restored to a preserved state that retained the ‘forgotten gardens’ feel that was present on his arrival in 1971. A charitable trust was created to ensure the continued preservation of the gardens. Brian collected a large archive of documents, photographs and objects related to Easton Lodge and Daisy.

Parties at Easton Lodge during the time of The Countess were legendary with a guest list including Charlie Chaplin, H G Wells (A neighbour) and of course HRH Edward Prince of Wales himself. Brian continued this tradition with some fantastic parties at Warwick House although the guest list was not quite as illustrious.

Brian retired from running the gardens in 2008 and later moved to Somerset as his general health declined. 

He is survived by Wife Diana, 4 Children and 9 Grandchildren.