Accessing the Archives - William Andrews Nesfield: Castle Howard

This five-part online series is presented in partnership with the Garden Museum, to celebrate the Museum’s acquisition of the archives of the eminent landscape designer William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881). The extensive papers were previously held by the designer’s descendants in Australia.

A former soldier and skilled watercolourist, Nesfield was the first to describe himself as a landscape architect. He designed over 250 sites, characterised by formal, Italianate parterres, grand fountains and intricate statuary near the house, with more naturalistic landscapes beyond. By 1840 the gardening journalist JC Loudon was praising his painterly landscape designs as so successful ‘that his opinion is now sought out by gentlemen of taste in every part of the country.’ With changing fashions, his popularity fell away - but the acquisition of his archives gives us chance to consider again the artistry of his style and the significance of his designs.

Four talks, rich with archive material, will explore some of Nesfield’s most important commissions across the country. The series will conclude with a roundtable discussion reconsidering Nesfield, and how his archives can help us dig deeper into his importance and relevance today.

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This ticket is for this individual session and costs £8, and you may purchase tickets for the other individual session via the link below, or you may purchase a ticket for the entire course of 5 sessions at a cost of £35 via the link here. (Gardens Trust members £6 or £26.25).

Ticket sales close 4 hours before the first talk

Attendees will be sent a Zoom link 2 days (and again a few hours) prior to the start of the first talk (If you do not receive this link, please contact us), and a link to the recorded session will be sent shortly after each session and will be available for 2 weeks.

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Week 1. 16 September: The Nesfield Gardens at Regent’s Park, London. First in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 2. 23 September: Revisiting William Andrews Nesfield at Castle Howard: A 21st-century perspective. Second in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 3. 30 September: The Rise, Fall and Revival of Nesfield's 'Monster Work' at Witley Court in Worcestershire. Third in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 4. 7 October: A Tricky Commission: the RHS Kensington Garden. Fourth in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

Week 5. 14 October: Round Table: Reconsidering Nesfield. Last in this series of 5 online lectures, £8 each or all 5 for £35 (Gardens Trust members £6 each or all 5 for £26.25)

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Week 2. 23 September: Revisiting William Andrews Nesfield at Castle Howard: A 21st-century perspective, with Christopher Ridgway

This talk will examine the commissions by the 7th Earl of Carlisle for Nesfield to transform the gardens at Castle Howard in the middle of the 19th century. His work included two large fountains, a parterre, and extensions to the south waterways over the course of fifteen years. The copious correspondence in the archives at Castle Howard chronicles these projects, including the disastrous over-run in costs, and the technical challenges for supplying the fountains. Acclaimed in its day, Nesfield’s garden at Castle Howard remains one of his most successful commissions, notwithstanding the alterations in subsequent years. The talk will also draw from Nesfield’s papers formerly in a private family archive and now in the collection of the Garden Museum and assess the present state of knowledge about this major landscape designer of Victorian England.

Christopher Ridgway has been curator at Castle Howard since 1985, and has published widely on its architecture, landscapes and collections, including several essays on Nesfield. He is chair of the Yorkshire Country House Partnership, and adjunct professor in the history department at Maynooth University. His book, ‘Castle Howard, A Grand Tour of England’s Finest Country House’ will be published in November 2025.

Image: Nesfield’s parterre at Castle Howard, c.1870, courtesy of Castle Howard archives

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