Many of us have had an idea of selling everything and moving to a remote location to live peacefully at some point in our busy lives. At one point in history, living in isolation as a garden hermit (or an ornamental hermit) was a lucrative career, paying you as much as £55,000 in today’s equivalent to be a real-life garden gnome, never breaking character. The property owner would use the hermits for conversation, advice, or simply for entertainment.
A brief history of garden hermits
Working as a garden hermit saw its peak in the 18th century. While the job’s origins are unclear, it is speculated to have originated in Italy, traced back to the Roman emperor Hadrian and his villa at Tivoli.
However, the 18th-century real-life garden gnome obsession is credited to Charles V, who was the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain (1500-1558), who lived in a monastery during his last years, making giving up worldly possessions an honourable pursuit. What is more, the garden hermit profession was a short-lived craze, having disappeared by the 19th century, eventually evolving into the little garden gnomes we know today.
Perhaps, it is a wee nod to the history behind the ornamental hermits that once lived on wealthy landowners’ properties. To this day, many garden hermit dwellings are still present across Europe, including England and Scotland, reminding us of one of the strangest, and the most unsanitary (but more on that later), jobs in history.
The job of being a real-life garden gnome
The job of the garden hermit was mostly popular in England, and each garden setup was the manifestation of the landowner’s fantasies. The real-life garden gnomes were employed for up to seven years and were dressed in druid-like clothing, never allowed to break character – even when the owners were away.
They lived in tiny dwellings and were never allowed to bathe – like EVER – or cut their hair, or trim their nails. While the garden hermit mostly lived in isolation, the property owner would use them to entertain guests, as well as for conversation or advice if needed. What is more, the hermits were provided with plenty of reading material, giving them a wise, druid-like character.
Garden hermits were meant to reflect introspection, sobriety and melancholy, often required to sit at a table with a skull, representing morality, spectacles and a book. Their living conditions were, admittedly, extremely unsanitary and unsafe, with the tiny dwellings not built for bad weather.
What is more, some wealthy landowners were reported to force their existing employees into the role of a real-life garden gnome. Usually, it was the person who looked after the land, instead of posting separate ads. Nevertheless, it was a well-paid affair, with garden hermits walking away with as much as 50 pounds a year, which is the equivalent of £55,000 today.
Does the job of garden hermit exist today?
While the job of the garden hermit is not well-known, it still exists to this day. Stan Vanuytrecht, who is a retired Belgian artillery officer, became a garden hermit in a continuously inhabited, 350-year-old hermitage in Austria. To get the job, he had to compete with 50 other applicants for the unpaid position, living with no electricity or internet, but in much better conditions than his 18th-century colleagues, going to the main town to shop and shower twice a week. He is, in fact, known as one of Europe’s last hermits.