Ralph Hancock (2 July 1893 – 30 August 1950) was a Welsh landscape gardener, architect and author.

[4] Clarence Henry Ralph Hancock was born at 20 Keppoch Street, Cardiff, Wales on 2 July 1893.

[5] At this time Hancock's occupation was a Marine and General Insurance Broker working from James Street, Cardiff.

[5] Hancock and his family moved to Downside Road, Sutton, Surrey, England and in 1928 a daughter, Sheila Muriel was born.

Hancock was reported to be extremely proud of the garden and HRH presented to him "a little diamond and sapphire tie pin" one of his most treasured possessions.

The main influences of this period was William Robinson[6] and Gertrude Jekyll[7] and Ralph incorporated this Arts and Crafts movement into his designs.

The promotional booklet must have worked as Hancock went on to design an exhibition garden at Erie Station in New Jersey.

He also staged exhibits at the Massachusetts Horticulture Show where he won several awards, including in 1933 the Presidents Cup.

But it was between 1933 and 1935 that Ralph was to embark on one of his most ambitious projects, the construction of spectacular gardens at the Rockefeller Center in New York.

[8] For almost 90 years, formal gardens have bloomed on the roofs of the British Empire Building and Maison Française.

Before planting and building could start a thick bitumastic base was laid on the roof, followed by a layer of loose brick and rubble that was arranged in a fan-like pattern to aid drainage.

By 1936 the Hancock family were living at 110 Sloane Street in Kensington, and owned a country house at Horne, Lingfield, Surrey.

Ralph continued to be a very successful exhibitor at the Chelsea Flower Show, winning gold medals in 1936, 1937 and 1938.

Sabatini was famous for his tales of high adventure such as Scaramouche, Captain Blood and The Sea Hawk, all of which became successful motion pictures.

Captain Blood was produced in 1935 and gave a young Errol Flynn his first ever Hollywood starring role.

Ralph's garden tribute to Sabatini featured a half-timbered cottage and also his trademark herringbone brickwork.

Although the garden was restored to its pre-war splendour neither Ralph nor Muriel fully recovered after the death of their youngest son, Denys.

It was at one of these post-war Chelsea shows that Sir David Evans Bevans, a Director at Barclays Bank commissioned Ralph and Bramley to build the gardens at Twyn-yr-Hydd.

A garden for Earl Peel at his home "The Hyning", located in Lancashire was the last designed by Hancock before his death of a heart attack on 30 August 1950.