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48-498: Lancelot " Capability " Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect , a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects including William Kent , he was a hands-on gardener and provided his clients with a full turnkey service, designing the gardens and park, and then managing their landscaping and planting. He

96-476: A comma, and there' pointing to another spot, 'where a more decided turn is proper, I make a colon; at another part, where an interruption is desirable to break the view, a parenthesis; now a full stop, and then I begin another subject. ' " Brown's patrons saw the idealised landscapes he was creating for them in terms of the Italian landscape painters they admired and collected, as Kenneth Woodbridge first observed in

144-473: A few ideas of Kent and Mr. Southcote . By the 1760s he was earning on average £6,000 (equivalent to £1,036,000 in 2023) a year, usually £500 (equivalent to £86,300 in 2023) for one commission. As an accomplished rider he was able to work fast, taking only an hour or so on horseback to survey an estate and rough out an entire design. In 1764, Brown was appointed George III 's Master Gardener at Hampton Court Palace , succeeding John Greening and residing at

192-462: A landscape architect. The title, "landscape architect", was first used by Frederick Law Olmsted , the designer of New York City's Central Park in Manhattan and numerous projects of large scale both public and private. He was the founder of a firm of landscape architects who employed highly skilled professionals to design and execute aspects of projects designed under his auspices. Depending on

240-498: A landscape gardener. As a proponent of the new English style Brown became immensely sought after by the landed families . By 1751, when Brown was beginning to be widely known, Horace Walpole wrote somewhat slightingly of Brown's work at Warwick Castle : The castle is enchanting; the view pleased me more than I can express, the River Avon tumbles down a cascade at the foot of it. It is well laid out by one Brown who has set up on

288-609: A mason-architect. After school Lancelot worked as the head gardener's apprentice at Sir William Loraine 's kitchen garden at Kirkharle Hall until he was 23. In 1739 he journeyed south to the port of Boston , Lincolnshire . Then he moved further inland, where his first landscape commission was for a new lake in the park at Kiddington Hall , Oxfordshire . He moved to Wotton Underwood House , Buckinghamshire , seat of Sir Richard Grenville. In 1741 Brown joined Lord Cobham 's gardening staff as undergardener at Stowe Gardens , Buckinghamshire , where he worked under William Kent , one of

336-823: A new style within the English landscape, a 'gardenless' form of landscape gardening, which swept away almost all the remnants of previous formally patterned styles. His landscapes were at the forefront of fashion. They were fundamentally different from what they replaced, the well-known formal gardens of England which were criticised by Alexander Pope and others from the 1710s. Starting in 1719, William Kent replaced these with more naturalistic compositions, which reached their greatest refinement in Brown's landscapes. At Hampton Court Brown encountered Hannah More in 1782 and she described his "grammatical" manner in her literary terms: " 'Now there ' said he, pointing his finger, 'I make

384-441: A park, into the ornamented farm, and into the forest or savage garden". To Southcote, Walpole gives the credit for the idealized farm. [3] . Southcote was a friend of leading writers and gardeners of his day, including Pope , Lord Burlington , Lord Petre , and William Kent . His house is now occupied by St. George's College, and some features survive. Subsequent owners Woburn Park owners included: Later in life Philip married

432-534: A recognised professional landscape architect in Australia, the first requirement is to obtain a degree in landscape architecture accredited by the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects . After at least two years of recognised professional practice, graduates may submit for further assessment to obtain full professional recognition by AILA. The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CSLA)

480-527: A son in 1754 who died shortly afterwards, Anne who was born and died in 1756, Margaret (known as Peggy) in 1758 and Thomas in 1761. In 1768 he purchased the manor of Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire in East Anglia for £13,000 (equivalent to £2,180,000 in 2023) from Lord Northampton. This came with two manor houses, two villages and 2,668 acres of land. The property stayed in the family until it

528-433: A tree here or a concealed head of water there. His art attended to the formal potential of ground, water, trees and so gave to English landscape its ideal forms. The difficulty was that less capable imitators and less sophisticated spectators did not see nature perfected... they saw simply what they took to be nature." This deftness of touch was recognised in his own day; one anonymous obituary writer opined: "Such, however,

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576-532: A very able master". Lancelot Brown was the fifth child of a land agent and a chambermaid , born in the village of Kirkharle , Northumberland , and educated at a school in Cambo until he was 16. Brown's father, William Brown, had been Sir William Loraine ’s land agent and his mother, Ursula (née Hall), had been in service at Kirkharle Hall . His eldest brother, John, became the estate surveyor and later married Sir William's daughter. His older brother George became

624-494: Is dead!". Brown was buried in the churchyard of St. Peter and St. Paul, the parish church of Brown's small estate at Fenstanton Manor. He left an estate of approximately £40,000 (equivalent to £6,080,000 in 2023), which included property in Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire and Lincolnshire. His eldest daughter Bridget married the architect Henry Holland . Brown sent two of his sons to Eton . One of them, Lancelot Brown

672-407: Is enchanting; the view pleased me more than I can express, the river Avon tumbles down a cascade at the foot of it. It is well laid out by one Brown who has set up on a few ideas of Kent and Mr. Southcote." Later in life, summing up his thoughts in his Essay On Modern Gardening , Walpole divided types of gardens in the "modern" naturalistic style into three: "into the garden that connects itself with

720-476: Is most famous for the landscaped parks of English country houses , many of which have survived reasonably intact. However, he also included in his plans "pleasure gardens" with flower gardens and the new shrubberies , usually placed where they would not obstruct the views across the park of and from the main facades of the house. Few of his plantings of "pleasure gardens" have survived later changes. He also submitted plans for much smaller urban projects, for example

768-413: Is overshadowed by his great reputation as a designer of landscapes. Repton was bound to add: "he was inferior to none in what related to the comfort, convenience, taste and propriety of design, in the several mansions and other buildings which he planned". Brown's first country house project was the remodelling of Croome Court , Worcestershire , (1751–52) for the 6th Earl of Coventry , in which instance he

816-468: Is the country's professional association of landscape architects. Some notable Canadian landscape architects include Cornelia Oberlander , Claude Cormier , Peter Jacobs , Janet Rosenberg , Marc Ryan, and Michael Hough. The Landscape Institute is the recognised body relating to the field of Landscape Architecture throughout the United Kingdom. To become a recognised landscape architect in

864-412: The English landscape garden at Woburn (sometimes Wooburn) Farm, near Addlestone , Surrey . It was the original ferme ornée ("decorative farm"), a term invented by Stephen Switzer in 1741 Philip Southcote, a young army captain, was the fourth son of Sir Edward Southcote. Southcote had a long affair with the notorious courtesan Teresia Constantia Phillips which started in 1727. Southcote bought

912-422: The English poet and satirical author, declared that he hoped to die before Brown so that he could "see heaven before it was 'improved'." This was a typical statement reflecting the controversy about Brown's work, which has continued over the last 200 years. By contrast, a recent historian and author, Richard Bisgrove, described Brown's process as perfecting nature by "judicious manipulation of its components, adding

960-537: The UK takes approximately seven years. To begin the process, one has to study an accredited course by the Landscape Institute to obtain a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture or a similar field. Following this one must progress onto a postgraduate diploma in the field of landscape architecture covering the subject in far greater detail such as mass urban planning, construction, and planting. Following this,

1008-677: The Wilderness House. In 1767 he bought an estate for himself at Fenstanton in Huntingdonshire from Spencer Compton, 8th Earl of Northampton and was appointed High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire for 1770, although his son Lance carried out most of the duties. It is estimated that Brown was responsible for more than 170 gardens surrounding the finest country houses and estates in Britain. His work endures at Belvoir Castle , Croome Court (where he also designed

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1056-743: The built environment". This definition of the profession of landscape architect is based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations, International Labour Office, Geneva . Some notable Australian landscape architects include Catherin Bull , Kevin Taylor , Richard Weller , Peter Spooner , Sydney based writer and designer (Doris) Jocelyn Brown , Grace Fraser , Bruce Mackenzie, Mary Jeavons, Janet Conrad, Dr Jim Sinatra, William Guilfoyle , Ina Higgins , Edna Walling , and Ellis Stones . To become

1104-413: The college gardens along The Backs at Cambridge . Criticism of his style, both in his own day and subsequently, mostly centres on the claim that "he created 'identikit' landscapes with the main house in a sea of turf, some water, albeit often an impressive feature, and trees in clumps and shelterbelts", giving "a uniformity equating to authoritarianism" and showing a lack of imagination and even taste on

1152-474: The earliest of human cultures and just as much as the practice of medicine has been inimical to the species and ubiquitous worldwide for several millennia. However, this article examines the modern profession and educational discipline of those practicing the design of landscape architecture. In the 1700s, Humphry Repton described his occupation as "landscape gardener" on business cards he had prepared to represent him in work that now would be described as that of

1200-739: The environment in an area. In the U.S., a need to formalize the practice and a name for the profession was resolved in 1899 with the formation of the American Society of Landscape Architects . A few of the many talented and influential landscape architects who have been based in the United States are: Frederick Law Olmsted , Beatrix Farrand , Jens Jensen , Ian McHarg , Thomas Church , Arthur Shurtleff , Ellen Biddle Shipman John Nolen , Lawrence Halprin , Charles Edgar Dickinson , Iris Miller , and Robert Royston . Royston summed up one American theme: Landscape architecture practices

1248-500: The existing rusticated entrance that marks the entrance from the public road, soon attracted stylish visitors who made the serpentine circuit of the garden, passing from feature to feature: "all my design at first was to have a garden on the middle high ground and a walk all round my farm, for convenience as well as pleasure" Southcote wrote [1] . A feature of Woburn Farm was a walk planted with broom , roses , lilac , columbine , peonies and sweet william , which wound its way through

1296-462: The field of architecture was a natural outgrowth of his unified picture of the English country house in its setting: "In Brown's hands the house, which before had dominated the estate, became an integral part of a carefully composed landscape intended to be seen through the eye of a painter, and its design could not be divorced from that of the garden" Humphry Repton observed that Brown "fancied himself an architect", but Brown's work as an architect

1344-533: The fields, for it remained a working farm [2] . Like William Shenstone 's Arcadian garden, the Leasowes , Woburn Farm was highly influential in disseminating the landscape garden ; it received an extended description in Thomas Whateley 's Observations on modern gardening . In a letter in 1751, Horace Walpole wrote rather peevishly of Capability Brown 's landscaping at Warwick Castle , "The castle

1392-404: The fine art of relating the structure of culture to the nature of landscape, to the end that people can use it, enjoy it, and preserve it. The following is an outline of the typical scope of service for a landscape architect: [REDACTED] Media related to Landscape architects at Wikimedia Commons Philip Southcote Capt. Philip Southcote (1698–1758) created an early example of

1440-561: The founders of the new English style of landscape garden . In 1742, at the age of 26, he was officially appointed Head Gardener, earning £25 (equivalent to £4,900 in 2023) a year and residing in the western Boycott Pavilion. Brown remained at Stowe until 1750. He made the Grecian Valley at Stowe under William Kent's supervision. It is an abstract composition of landform and woodland. Lord Cobham let Brown take freelance work from his aristocratic friends, thus making him well known as

1488-531: The harmony and calmness of Brown's landscapes was inevitable; the landscapes lacked the sublime thrill which members of the Romantic generation (such as Richard Payne Knight and Uvedale Price ) looked for in their ideal landscape, where the painterly inspiration would come from Salvator Rosa rather than Claude Lorrain . During the 19th century he was widely criticised, but during the twentieth century his reputation rose again. Tom Turner has suggested that

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1536-421: The house), Blenheim Palace , Warwick Castle , Harewood House , Chatsworth , Highclere Castle , Appuldurcombe House , Milton Abbey (and nearby Milton Abbas village) and in traces at Kew Gardens and many other locations. His style of smooth undulating grass, which would run straight to the house, clumps, belts and scatterings of trees and his serpentine lakes formed by invisibly damming small rivers were

1584-636: The issues facing the survival of these landscapes as well as suggested solutions. A commemorative fountain in Westminster Abbey ’s cloister garth was dedicated for Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown after Evensong on Tuesday 29 May 2018 by the Dean of Westminster , Dr John Hall . The fountain sits over an old monastic well in the garth. It was designed by Ptolemy Dean , the Abbey's Surveyor of the Fabric , and

1632-449: The jurisdiction, landscape architects who pass state requirements to become registered, licensed, or certified may be entitled to use the postnominal letters corresponding to their seal, typically RLA (Registered Landscape Architect) or more recently, PLA (Professional Landscape Architect) n. In the US, all 50 states have adopted licensure. The American Society of Landscape Architects endorses

1680-694: The landscape at Stourhead , a "Brownian" landscape (with an un-Brownian circuit walk) in which Brown himself was not involved. Perhaps Brown's sternest critic was his contemporary Uvedale Price , who likened Brown's clumps of trees to "so many puddings turned out of one common mould." Russell Page , who began his career in the Brownian landscape of Longleat but whose own designs have formal structure, accused Brown of "encouraging his wealthy clients to tear out their splendid formal gardens and replace them with his facile compositions of grass, tree clumps and rather shapeless pools and lakes." Richard Owen Cambridge ,

1728-620: The latter resulted from a favourable account of his talent in Marie-Luise Gothein 's History of Garden Art which predated Christopher Hussey 's positive account of Brown in The Picturesque (1927). Dorothy Stroud wrote the first full monograph on Capability Brown, fleshing out the generic attributions with documentation from country house estate offices. Later landscape architects like William Sawrey Gilpin would opine that Brown's 'natural curves' were as artificial as

1776-404: The master builder Henry Holland, and by Henry's son Henry Holland the architect , whose initial career Brown supported; the younger Holland was increasingly Brown's full collaborator and became Brown's son-in-law in 1773. Brown's reputation declined rapidly after his death, because the English landscape style did not convey the dramatic conflict and awesome power of wild nature. A reaction against

1824-434: The part of his patrons. He designed more than 170 parks, many of which survive. He was nicknamed "Capability" because he would tell his clients that their property had "capability" for improvement. His influence was so great that the contributions to the English garden made by his predecessors Charles Bridgeman and William Kent are often overlooked; even Kent's champion Horace Walpole allowed that Kent "was succeeded by

1872-407: The postnominal letters PLA, for Professional Landscape Architect, even though there is no legal or professional distinction between the use of RLA or PLA. The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) states that "Landscape Architects research, plan, design, and advise on the stewardship, conservation, and sustainability of development of the environment and spaces, both within and beyond

1920-640: The small property called Woburn Farm in 1735. He married the wealthy Duchess of Cleveland. They wanted a country home and Woburn Farm had 150 acres, 35 acres of which Philip used to create a beautiful garden; the rest was used as a farm. The gardens were contained within a weaving ornamental walk, remains of which can be seen between the Philip Southcote school for children with special needs and Gerry Cottle's Circus headquarters. Woburn Farm's grotto and architectural garden follies , arches and gateways, some features designed by William Kent , including

1968-615: The straight lines that were common in French gardens. Brown's portrait by Nathaniel Dance , c. 1773, is conserved in the National Portrait Gallery , London. His work has often been favourably compared and contrasted ("the antithesis") to the œuvre of André Le Nôtre , the French jardin à la française landscape architect. He became both "rich and honoured and had 'improved' a greater acreage of ground than any landscape architect" who preceded him. A festival to celebrate

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2016-552: The tercentenary of Brown's birth was held in 2016. The Capability Brown Festival 2016 published a large amount of new research on Brown's work and held over 500 events across Britain as part of the celebrations. Royal Mail issued a series of Landscape Stamps in his honour in August 2016. The Gardens Trust with support from Historic England , published Vulnerability Brown: Capability Brown landscapes at risk in October 2017 to review

2064-586: The trainee must complete the Pathway to Chartership, a challenging program set out by the Landscape Institute. Following this, one is awarded a full landscape architect title and membership among the Chartered Members of the Landscape Institute (CMLI). The United States is the founding country of the formal profession entitled landscape architecture. Those in this field work both to create an aesthetically pleasing setting and also to protect and preserve

2112-579: The younger, became the MP for Huntingdon . His son John joined the Royal Navy and rose to become an admiral. Many of Capability Brown's parks and gardens may still be visited today. A partial list of the landscapes he designed or worked on includes: More than 30 of the gardens are open to the public. [REDACTED] Media related to Capability Brown at Wikimedia Commons Landscape architect The practice of landscape architecture dates to some of

2160-521: Was developed with the assistance of gardener Alan Titchmarsh . The fountain was made in lead by sculptor Brian Turner. On 22 November 1744 he married Bridget Wayet (affectionately called Biddy) from Boston, Lincolnshire , in Stowe parish church. Her father was an alderman and landowner while her family had surveyors and engineers among its members. They had eight children: Bridget in 1746, Lancelot (known as Lance), William (who died young), John in 1751,

2208-417: Was likely following sketches by the gentleman amateur Sanderson Miller . Fisherwick, Staffordshire, Redgrave Hall, Suffolk, and Claremont , Surrey, were classical, while at Corsham his outbuildings are in a Gothic vein, including the bathhouse . Gothic stable blocks and decorative outbuildings, arches and garden features constituted many of his designs. From 1771 he was assisted in the technical aspects by

2256-524: Was sold in lots in 1870s and 1880s. Ownership of the property allowed him to stand for and serve as High sheriff of Huntingdonshire from 1770 to 1771. He continued to work and travel until his sudden collapse and death on 6 February 1783, on the doorstep of his daughter Bridget Holland's house, at 6 Hertford Street , London while returning after a night out at Lord Coventry's. Horace Walpole wrote to Lady Ossory : "Your dryads must go into black gloves, Madam, their father-in-law, Lady Nature’s second husband,

2304-449: Was the effect of his genius that when he was the happiest man, he will be least remembered; so closely did he copy nature that his works will be mistaken." In 1772, Sir William Chambers (though he did not mention Brown by name) complained that the "new manner" of gardens "differ very little from common fields, so closely is vulgar nature copied in most of them." Capability Brown produced more than 100 architectural drawings, and his work in

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