Lee Hale
Winterbourne House & Garden, University of Birmingham
Lee Hale Lee is currently Director of Winterbourne House & Garden, the University of Birmingham’s botanic garden and Arts Council accredited museum. Winterbourne is now a top-rated visitor attraction and educational resource, and its collections include the University of Birmingham Herbarium, local and industrial archives and national plant collections.
In 2012 after salvaging a number of historic printing presses he founded The Winterbourne Press, a working letterpress printing shop. Winterbourne press has since grown and with the support of a dedicated volunteer team now operates on a regular basis enhancing the work of the Centre of Printing History & Culture. The Press runs workshops and demonstrations to the general public and provides research and study opportunities for university students, schools, local artists and historians.
Lee’s interest in the relationship between heritage and horticulture led him to undertake a Master of Arts degree in International Heritage Management at the University of Birmingham and a Master of Horticulture degree from the Royal Horticultural Society.
Lee is particularly passionate about local, social, and industrial history. He is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and a full member of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture. He serves on a number of boards including those of the Lapworth Museum, the Virtual Museum of Printing and the Centre for Printing History & Culture. He is also a Fellow of both the Lunar Society and the Royal Society of Arts. Lee is a trustee at the Merlin Trust which supports training opportunities for young horticulturists, and a trustee and director at Churchill Forge Mill which seeks to preserve unique industrial archaeology.
