The Three Most Influential English Landscape Designers

Charles Bridgeman was an English garden designer who was part of the landscape garden movement. Although much of the movement was fueled by the anti-French idea, Bridgeman was influenced by the French garden style. Because of this, he played a role in the transition from the structured to the more free designs. Being that he was a transition designer during this time, he kept some of the features from previous formal gardens. For example, he still incorporated the clipped hedges in his garden designs. He also retained some of the geometric shapes and straight lines that the previous gardens had. Then he added new features such as garden buildings, soft rolling hills, and winding paths. He utilized ha-has to make the landscape even freer and to bring in the views surrounding it. The gardens that Bridgeman designed were able to bring the writings of Joseph Addison and Alexander Pope to life. Many of the designs that Bridgeman did were redesigns of the estate gardens of wealthy nobleman. He was even appointed Royal Gardener for a time. Bridgeman played a role in the designs of gardens such as Kensington Gardens and the Stowe landscape garden to name a couple.

Plan for Kensington Palace Gardens

 William Kent was the next to push forward the English landscape movement. Kent was considered a landscape architect and had little horticulture knowledge at all. He would produce drawings of the landscapes and then others would produce them. The way he looked at a landscape design was through they eye of a painter. Unlike Bridgeman, he veered away from the formal structure and designed a more relaxed landscape. His gardens were also very much about the mood that it portrayed whether it be tranquility, melancholy, etc. Many of the features that Charles Bridgeman brought to the landscapes were also used by Kent. He used curving lines as well as opened his gardens up to the borrowed landscapes through the use of the ha-has. Kent’s gardens were also known for having temples in them. Additionally he added arches and the Palladian Bridge. Rousham House and Garden is the best example of William Kent’s work today. In this specific Kent landscape, you can encounter Roman features in the statues that are placed throughout. One of the most incredible features is the rill that curves through the woods from the Cold bath to the Vale of Venus. He also made a contribution the Stowe landscape garden originally done by Charles Bridgeman.

Rousham Garden Rill

Capability Brown was one of the greatest English landscape architects to come around. Many have said that his ability and designs often over shadow those who came before him including Bridgeman and Kent. This being said, Brown spent some time working under William Kent at Stowe. Brown’s landscapes included smooth grass that would run straight up to the house. He had strategically placed clumps, belts and scattering of trees that always allowed for the perfect views. There were also serpentine like lakes. All these features completely wiped away the idea of the formal gardens that came before.  Unlike the English landscapes that came before his, there were no walls, buildings or statues. Brown’s gardens were made completely of turf, trees and water. He was able to create unbelievable views that you would almost certainly believe were natural. Brown is said to have created over a hundred landscape gardens but one of his most noted works was Blenheim Palace.

Blenheim Palace and Gardens

For more information on the gardens mentioned above, check out these links:

http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/kensington-gardens

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stowe/

http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/rousham_house_and_garden

http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bridgeman

http://www.gardenvisit.com/biography/charles_bridgeman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Kent

http://www.gardenvisit.com/biography/william_kent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capability_Brown

http://www.gardenvisit.com/biography/lancelot_capability_brown

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/81572/Lancelot-Brown

Photo Sources:

N.d. Photograph. Austenonly.comWeb. 6 Apr 2014. <http://austenonly.com/2010/05/09/jane-austen-and-london-i-had-a-pleasant-walk-in-kensington-gardens-on-sunday-with-henry/>.

Rousham Gardens: Watery Walk & Cold Bath. N.d. Photograph. geographWeb. 6 Apr 2014. <http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1180686>.

N.d. Photograph. British ToursWeb. 6 Apr 2014. <http://www.britishtours.com/blenheim-palace-oxford-windsor>.