This is NT Stowe in Buckinghamshire one of the best known 18th century English Landscape Gardens. This type of garden is vast and really only accessible to the very rich who often created them as a statement as much as just because they could.

Viscount Cobham used his gardens at Stowe to tell a political story, venting his frustration with the government at the time. It’s told through many different media: statues, temples, ruins, military references, buildings, bridges, grottos, lakes and much more.

Key things to know:

Think:

– Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, William Kent, Humphrey Repton, William Emes among others

– Large open space, clumps of trees, lakes, temples, ha-ha’s, winding driveways

Appreciate:

– The calm, greenness, simplicity, quiet, reflection

– Vast number of man-hours put in to create

– Craftmanship in design and creation of the landscape and its features

Influences:

– The era of arcadia: peace, beauty and perfection of an idyllic rural paradise

– War with France – military buildings and landforms

Visit:

– NT Stowe, Buckinghamshire

– NT Stourhead, Wiltshire

– Packington Hall, Warwickshire (NGS and Historic Houses garden)

– NT Prior Park, Somerset

– Bramham Park, West Yorkshire