Accessing the Archives - William Andrews Nesfield: Regent’s Park

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.

…..

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.

.....

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)

…..

Week 1. 16 September: The Nesfield Gardens at Regent’s Park, London, with Richard Flenley

This talk will explore both the creation of the Avenue Gardens at Regent’s Park (1863-65), still sometimes known as the Nesfield Gardens, and their restoration, undertaken by the Royal Parks in 1993-96.

William Andrews Nesfield laid out the formal Avenue Gardens in the south-east corner of Regent’s Park in 1863-64, within the broader John Nash landscape of the park. He worked in conjunction with two of his sons - William Eden who, as architect, designed a gardener’s lodge on the edge of the gardens, and Arthur Markham, who prepared the planting plans and implementation of the works. Within a few years the design was hailed as ‘among the most popular and attractive gardens in the public parks of the metropolis… tastefully embellished with flowers and ornamental-leaved plants.’ Of all the London parks, it was ‘the great show-place for flowers.’

Following a period of drift and decline, the Royal Parks commissioned Land Use Consultants in the mid-1990s to research and prepare designs for the restoration of the Avenue Gardens, based closely on Nesfield’s original plan of 1863.

Richard Flenley was a Principal and later Chair of Land Use Consultants [LUC] from 1970 until formal retirement in 2011. He led a wide range of planning and design projects including as an advisor to the Royal Parks. Since nominal retirement, he has focused mainly on voluntary work including trusteeships at Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing, 2014-18; the Quadrangle at Shoreham, Kent, 2007-19; and at Kelmarsh Hall, Northants, where he was also Chair of trustees up to July 2023. He is currently a Board Member of the Royal Parks Guild and an advisor on the Gardens Committee for the Crown Estate Paving Commission.

Image: Restoration Plan for the Avenue Gardens at Regent’s Park, 1993, by LUC for the Royal Parks, based on William Andrews Nesfield’s original plan of 1863, courtesy of LUC

…..