Accessing the Archives - William Andrews Nesfield: Witley Court

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 3. 30 September: The Rise, Fall and Revival of Nesfield's 'Monster Work' at Witley Court in Worcestershire, with John Watkins

This talk will chart the creation of Nesfield's grand parterres at Witley Court in the 1850s for William Ward, later Earl of Dudley, and their subsequent long period of decline following the sale of the property, a devastating fire and the systematic dismantling of the estate. In 1984 Witley Court came under the guardianship of English Heritage, who buried the remaining parterre to deter further removals. Following local campaigns, the grand Perseus and Andromeda fountain was restored in 2002 with an HLF grant, which also purchased land reuniting the formal and informal parts of the landscape. The lecture will detail further research and reconstructions that have revealed Nesfield’s intentions.

John Watkins led the Gardens and Landscape Team in English Heritage for 27 years, retiring in July 2025. He is a professional horticulturist with some 47 years’ experience, awarded the RHS Associate of Honour in 2016. As well as Witley Court, John has led high-profile restoration projects at Chiswick House and Gardens, Down House, Eltham Palace, Wrest Park, Kenilworth Castle, Boscobel House, Audley End Kitchen Garden and Mount Grace Priory. In April 2025 he was appointed as Chair of the Gardens Trust.

Image: William Nesfield, The South Garden at Witley Court (detail), c.1857, from the Nesfield Archives, ©Archive of Garden Design at the Garden Museum

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