Building the C18 Garden

The 18th century landscape is viewed by many as being the pinnacle of English garden design. From its early Arcadian experiments and passion for all things classical, through to the vast and minimal landscapes of Capability Brown and his contemporaries, the gardening century was brought to a close with conflicting appeals for rugged wildness and domestic prettiness.

In this series Dr Laura Mayer will explore some of the themes and trends that emerged during the century, with a particular focus on the role of art, antiquity and architecture in shaping 18th landscape designs. The series is designed to pick up on themes and ideas not covered in any depth in last year’s introductory course on the History of Gardens – and so may appeal whether or not you joined us for the earlier series.

Image: Studley Royal Water Garden, ©National Trust Images/Andrew Butler

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This ticket costs £35 for the entire course of 5 sessions, or you may purchase a ticket for individual sessions, costing £8 via the links below. [Gardens Trust members £26.25 or £6 each]

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.

Please scroll down below the links to see the full details of each talk.

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Week 1. 21 October: Imagining Arcadia - The Early English Landscape Garden. 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. 28 October: Visiting Arcadia - Architecture and Antiquity on the Grand Tour. 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. 4 November - Garden Buildings, Grottoes and Entertainment Al-Fresco. 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. 11 November: The Architectural Aspirations of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton. 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. 18 November: ‘An Awful Precipice’ - Price, Knight and the Picturesque. 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 1. 21 October: Imagining Arcadia - The Early English Landscape Garden

During the first part of the eighteenth century, the garden underwent a gradual transformation from geometric formalism to pastoral Arcadian idyll. This shift in landscaping style mirrored the political, intellectual and stylistic revolutions of the century, as authoritarianism was rejected in favour of something looser and more natural. Yet this complex and fascinating period of British garden history is frequently raced through, in a bid to reach the perceived apex of the style, and the minimal designs of Lancelot Brown and his contemporaries.

This lecture focuses on the early informal landscape and considers the fledgling ‘rural gardening’ style and ferme ornée promoted by men like Philip Southcote and Alexander Pope. It highlights the ingenuity of Stephen Switzer, who believed that the extortionate upkeep of geometric, axial designs could be solved simply by laying the whole country open to view. This notion ultimately transformed the way landscape was viewed forever and encouraged every designer from Batty Langley to William Kent to embrace informality and build increasingly less structured gardens.

Image: Luke Sullivan, A View of Wooburn in Surrey, the Seat of Philip Southcote Esq, c.1770, The Garden Museum

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Week 2. 28 October: Visiting Arcadia - Architecture and Antiquity on the Grand Tour

The Grand Tour transformed British culture in the eighteenth century; its effects visible in everything from art to antiquarianism, and fashion to food. A carefully prescribed route took in ancient ruins, sun-drenched landscapes and must-see objects d’art. Consequently, the Grand Tour became an educational rite of passage for the classically trained, encouraging the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, and providing a constant stream of commissions for artists like Batoni, Piranesi and Canaletto.

The Tour was also a socially sanctioned cover for all types of excess, from gambling and pillaging, to whoring and drinking. Yet despite these temptations, many young men returned from the Continent genuinely enlightened. Clubs were set up to encourage aspiring architects and garden designers to mingle with collectors and would-be patrons.

This lecture explores the dual nature of the Tour and reveals how a network of wealthy connoisseurs influenced the Arcadian landscape gardens of the Georgian gentry.

Image: unknown artist, after Pieter Andreas Rysbrack, ca. 1684–1748, A View of the Orangerie in Lord Burlington's Garden at Chiswick, Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, public domain

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Week 3. 4 November: Garden Buildings, Grottoes and Entertainment Al-Fresco

For all its aesthetic ideals and painterly compositions, the English landscape garden was ultimately intended for recreation. Follies, tea temples and other small-scale garden buildings encouraged architectural experimentation, whilst practically supplying shelter and shade for picnics and an exciting destination for drinking and dining.

Set apart from the country house, hermitages and classical pavilions provided privacy, seclusion and a sense of retreat within the landscape, encouraging study and quiet contemplation. At night, shadowy grottoes were illuminated by candlelight, and fireworks launched – often disastrously – from lodges or other purpose-built structures.

This lecture explores the role of architectural features within eighteenth-century garden design and considers how they were used and enjoyed in all weathers and throughout the seasons.

Image: The Boathouse at Longleat, ©Laura Mayer

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Week 4. 11 November: The Architectural Aspirations of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton

Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton are famous for being the century’s most prolific landscape gardeners, and yet both men harboured strong architectural ambitions. Significantly, Brown even referred to himself as a ‘place-maker’, a term specifically chosen to encompass his abilities as both landscaper and architect.

In 1771, Brown formed a resourceful partnership with Henry Holland, a successful builder and architect. In 1796, Repton entered into a formal partnership with the architect John Nash, having previously worked alongside William Wilkins and Samuel and James Wyatt. In 1773, Holland married Brown’s daughter Bridget, whilst Repton’s sons, George Stanley and John Adey, were pre-destined for a career in architecture and apprenticed from a young age to Nash.

This lecture explores the lesser-known, architectural side of Brown and Repton’s careers. It considers how they involved themselves – both directly and indirectly through their sons and business partners – with the broader design of country estates. This included ambitious architectural design, the building of garden temples within the landscape and even interior decorative schemes, all intended to seamlessly integrate a house with its setting.

Image: Richard Wilson, Croome Court, Worcestershire, 1758, Wikimedia Commons, public domain

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Week 5. 18 November: ‘An Awful Precipice’ - Price, Knight and the Picturesque

The aesthetic category known as the Picturesque developed in the latter part of the eighteenth century. Defined by the artist and travel writer William Gilpin as ‘that peculiar kind of beauty which is agreeable in a picture’, it was equally applicable to art, architecture and even music. In the case of British landscape, the Picturesque aesthetes championed a Romantic appreciation for rugged and sublime topography. Gilpin’s guidebooks provided advice on how to paint picturesque scenery and promoted picturesque destinations such as the Lake District to a growing band of domestic tourists who had turned their back on the Grand Tour.

Through their writings, Sir Uvedale Price and Richard Payne Knight harnessed a growing disdain for the minimal landscapes of Brown and his contemporaries, instead encouraging Picturesque values of irregularity and wildness. This lecture grapples with the paradoxes inherent in a movement which championed unbridled naturalism through the artificial lens of taste, whilst recognising the early role of the Picturesque writers in championing wilderness preservation.

Image: William Gilpin, the Ruined Abbey (left) and the Roman Arch, from his Sketchbook of Painshill Park, 1772, courtesy the Gardens Trust / Surrey History Centre

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