Park Hill from Tate to Today

Posted on 16/12/2017 by The Garden History Blog

Last week’s post told the first part of the story of Park Hill, a Victorian estate in Streatham in what is now south London.  In 1873 the house was put up for sale after the death of its builder William Leaf, although there was little interest, and it was not until in 1880 it was finally sold.

Sir Henry Tate
by Thomas Brock, Tate Gallery

The new owner was Henry Tate, sugar magnate and the man behind the foundation of the Tate Gallery.

Tate was a self-made man from Lancashire and still largely based there when he bought Park Hill, but it was to become home to him, his family and his growing art collection until his death in 1899.

the terrace and summer house

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William Leaf & Park Hill Streatham

Posted on 09/12/2017 by The Garden History Blog

from the 1875 sales particulars. British Library

A few weeks ago I wrote about the work of late Georgian society architect John Buonarotti Papworth. One of his commissions was for a house for the unknown but immensely wealthy businessman, philanthropist, art collector and garden enthusiast William Leaf.  Later the estate was bought by another, but much better known, immensely wealthy businessman, philanthropist, art collector  and garden enthusiast Henry Tate.

Amazingly the estate has escaped  the common fates of Victorian suburban villas, even grand ones:  demolition to make way for street after street of cheaper housing.   The escape has not been total but the core of the property still survives reasonably intact, which is even more amazing since the estate is only 6 miles from central London.

from the 1875 sales particulars. British Library

Read on to discover the story of Park Hill, Streatham… Continue reading →

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Vulnerability Brown

Posted on 02/12/2017 by The Garden History Blog

On Wednesday I was in Birmingham for the annual  Historic Landscapes Assembly organised by The Gardens Trust.   It marked the launch of a significant report they had commissioned about Capability  Brown,  so although I don’t normally cover current events here I thought I’d use my 200th post  to spread the word.

I can hear the collective groan going up – yes we know the man was a genius but we’ve just  had a whole year of him and are beginning to get a bit B… off.  But the report wasn’t about him but the conservation challenges and opportunities facing many of his designed  landscapes, which are currently being collectively considered  for possible World Heritage Status.

First the good news: Langley Park in Bucks, restored with the aid of the Heritage Lottery Fund.

This report was written by Dr Sarah Rutherford and Sarah Couch , both experienced landscape historians with expertise in the conservation of historic landscapes and in the planning issues they face.  Much of the text of this post is taken directly from their work, and you’ll find the link to the whole document at the end.

But why is the report necessary? Surely we know that Brown’s surviving sites are precious and need to be looked after like any other great work of art?  If that’s the case why are there as many as 6  Brown parks, as well as a whole string of buildings in landscapes associated with him, on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register?.

And the not so good news:  Clandon Park in Surrey, is on the Heritage at Risk Register                    Photo Historic England Archives

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Belsay: “A self-contained Eden”

Posted on 25/11/2017 by The Garden History Blog

Belsay Hall, Historic England

Belsay is an extraordinary match made in heaven, or rather in the green rolling hills of Northumberland.  The estate is most famous for its stunning but stark Grecian revival mansion finished just 200 years ago in 1817, but tucked away in the grounds there is also a once important but now semi-ruined mediaeval castle that was enlarged and ‘domesticated’ in the early 17th century.

Belsay Castle, Historic England

But best of all the two buildings are linked by an extraordinary  garden created in the 19th within the the quarry from which the stone for the new hall was cut.

The Quarry Garden, English Heritage

Belsay was owned by the same family – the Middletons –  from the 13thc up until ownership passed to English Heritage in 1984. Although its buildings are now empty and echoing Belsay still maintains the same special quality that led Christopher Hussey, the architectural and garden writer, to describe it in 1940 as  “a self-contained Eden”. It is definitely  one of the architectural and horticultural  highlights of not just North East England but the whole country. Continue reading →

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Ella and Florence Du Cane & their own gardens in Essex

Posted on 18/11/2017 by The Garden History Blog

“Spring in the Wild Garden” based on a painting by Ella  Du Cane of her  garden at Beacon Hill from J.Coutts, A Complete Book of Gardening, 1930

Last week’s post was about Ella and Florence du Cane two adventurous aristocratic young women who, in pre-war Edwardian England, wrote and illustrated garden-related travel books.  

Despite their popularity before 1914,  by 1918 the story was different. There were far fewer travel books published – and none at all for the sisters – but there may well have been other factors at work.   The family estate, Braxted, had to be sold to pay their brother’s debts, so after her war service Florence returned to live with their mother at Mountains, the former dower house. She also took seriously to horticulture, not only taking over the running of Mountains but making a career of garden design. Meanwhile,  although some of Ella’s  paintings continued to be  used to illustrate books she spent most of her time at nearby Beacon Hill House, painting and creating a new garden around what was  once a small, but soon enlarged, cottage.

Extract from OS 25″ series: Essex n XLVI.13 
showing both Mountains and Beacon Hill House                                                                                       Revised: 1920 Published: 1923. National Library of Scotland

 

Both gardens were soon being recognized as interesting and significant and were reported on by Christopher Hussey in Country Life, almost in tandem, in 1925.  All the photos come from the articles on  14 March & 2nd May respectively and have the original captions unless otherwise stated.

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