The Garden History Blog

William Sawrey Gilpin

Posted on 26/11/2016 by The Garden History Blog

detail fromWilliam Sawrey Gilpin
Trees and Castle, ca. 1790–1810. https://www.indiana.edu/~iuam/provenance/view.php?id=650

My trip to Westonbirt last month introduced me to the theories of the early 19thc landscape designer William Sawrey Gilpin, who I’d heard of, but who had never really figured on my garden history radar.

Gilpin had a career as an artist before at the age of 58 launching himself into landscape gardening. He quickly became the greatest exponent of the Picturesque school of landscape design, and effectively the historical intermediary between Humphry Repton and Sir Charles Barry.

from Observations on the River Wye (1782)

So read on to find more about this elusive man and his work…

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged John Claudius Loudon, Lake District, Paul Sandby, Picturesque, Uvedale Price, Westonbirt, William Gilpin | 1 Comment

Achille Duchêne @ Blenheim

Posted on 19/11/2016 by The Garden History Blog

A drizzly overcast day in mid-November might not be the ideal time to see the gardens at Blenheim but I was taking advantage of an offer of free entry to the gardens and park via my RHS membership, so a drizzly overcast day in mid-November it was! As the coachloads of Japanese tourists set off to tour the palace we pulled up our coat collars and set off. A few minutes later we stopped in amazement as we walked through a passageway from the entrance court and emerged on the edge of the water gardens designed by Achille Duchêne for the 9th Duke of Marlborough between 1925 and 1931.

How ironic that a palace built to honour the military triumphs of John Churchill, first Duke of Marlborough, over Louis XIV, should later be so gloriously ornamented by gardens created in the grandest of French styles by one of the grandest of French designers.

All the photos are by David Marsh, November 2016 unless otherwise stated. Read on to find out more….

Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Duchene, fountain, Italian Garden, John Vanbrugh, Le Notre, obelisk, parterre, Versailles | 1 Comment

Gardens on the Wall part 1: John Baptist Jackson

Posted on 12/11/2016 by The Garden History Blog

Classical 'arch and pillar ' pattern 1760s, Bourton V&A

Classical ‘arch and pillar ‘ pattern 1760s,V&A

There are several ways of gardening indoors and several of gardening on walls but this post is about a way of doing both at once: wallpaper.

Wallpaper has long used floral motifs. We’re all familiar with flowery wallpaper – some good, some indifferent and some hideous enough to give you nightmares. We’re probably all familiar too with the wonderful Chinese wallpapers featuring exotic flowers and birds imported by the East India Company in the 18thc, but did you know that there is also a long tradition of landscapes and garden features being depicted on other wallpapers?

It’s amazing any of these have survived because wallpaper is so fragile, ephemeral and its so easy to replace it or paint over it to keep up with trends in fashionable decor. The vast majority of old wall hangings have disappeared without trace or can only be glimpsed as the background in a print or painting, so perhaps as a result the V&A believes that wallpaper usually been has been the poor relation of the decorative arts.

from Old time wall papers, by Kate Sanborn, Kate, 1905

from Old time wall papers, by Kate Sanborn, 1905, https://archive.org/details/oldtimewallpaper00sanb

Read on to find out more, especially what wallpaper can tell us about our gardens! Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Chinoiserie, wallpaper | 1 Comment

Westonbirt & the Holfords

Posted on 05/11/2016 by The Garden History Blog

The Italian Garden
http://www.ngs.org.uk

Everyone’s heard of Westonbirt Arboretum, one of the most extensive and beautiful collections of trees in the country. But how about the other gardens at Westonbirt? Perhaps not. Yet like the arboretum they were created by the same visionary, Robert Stayner Holford, are just across the road and are open to the public, although they now form the grounds of Westonbirt School.

http://www.botanicalgardenphotography.com

I had the chance to see them when I went down to Gloucestershire for a day conference – Protecting Historic Parks and Gardens: ‘It’s a Piece of Cake’ – organized by the Historic Landscapes Project which is part of The Gardens Trust. It was held in the school and because the Historic Landscapes Project is such an impressive resource [despite being run on a shoestring] I’d have signed up for the day even without the cake!

The programme was lively and informative [with the cake an added bonus] and included a tour of the grounds led by Margie Hoffnung, The Gardens Trust’s Conservation Officer, who had also been the leading volunteer in the gardens at Westonbirt. What an eye-opener that proved to be. Westonbirt was, and largely still is, a Victorian masterpiece and it’s no wonder that the gardens as well as the house are Grade 1 listed.

David Marsh, Oct 2016

I’m very grateful to Margie for letting me have access to her notes and for checking through the post – any errors are mine and not hers. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged arboretum, Chatsworth, conservation, Earl of Morley, Forestry Commission, garden buildings, George Holford, Italian Garden, orchids, Pulhamite, Robert Holford, Rockery, Royal Horticultural Society, Trentham, water gardens, Westonbirt, William Goldring, william sawrey gilpin, Wollaton Hall | Leave a comment

Peas, perfect peas

Posted on 29/10/2016 by The Garden History Blog

Fildes, Luke; Girl Shelling Peas; Warrington Museum & Art Gallery; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/girl-shelling-peas-104014

Girl Shelling Peas, by Luke Fildes, Warrington Museum & Art Gallery; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/girl-shelling-peas-104014

Move over Capability Brown, you have to share your year of fame with peas! It has probably slipped your notice (as I confess it did mine) but the United Nations has declared 2016 to be the ‘International Year of Pulses’ (IYP) , so here’s a post to celebrate one of our most popular vegetables.

In the search for perfection modern peas have, like so many other plant crops, been industrialized. Varieties have been selected that ripen at the same time, and grow on dwarf plants that are easy to harvest mechanically.

That has advantages of course, especially in terms of economics, but the downside is that it means that most people will never have the chance to sample the huge variety of tastes and textures that once existed on a commercial scale but now only cling on as heritage varieties.

And if you don’t recognize the man in the photo or know what he has got to do with peas then read on…