Skip to content

How has the English landscape garden developed?

Written by
Allison Adler KrollCo-organiser at The Oxford Research Centre for the Humanities, University of Oxford
The Palladian Bridge at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, spanning the Octagon Lake which is created to look like a river. The arches of the bridge are reflected in the water with a backdrop of green trees. It is one of only four Palladian Bridges in the world and the only one which allowed a carriage to be driven over.
The Palladian Bridge at Stowe | © National Trust Images/Hugh Mothersole

The English landscape garden is characterised by structured informality. Orderly, aesthetically arranged elements draw attention to local flora and landscape features which appear entirely natural, or even ‘wild’.

Origins of the English landscape garden

The English landscape garden tradition goes back to the later sixteenth and early seventeenth-centuries. The Tradescants (John the elder, 1570–1638; John the younger, 1608–1662) collaborated with William and Robert Cecil and Sir Francis Bacon on garden designs that combined botanical discoveries from New World exploration with the discipline of natural history.

Rejection of formalism

With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, William III brought a freer Dutch gardening style to England. Whilst the earlier Stuart monarchs had embraced the formal gardens of the French court, it now became fashionable to create gardens that rejected authoritarian formality in favour of rustic simplicity.

Classical influences

Ancient Greek notions of the Arcadian pastoral landscape influenced early eighteenth-century landscape gardens, but in a more natural style than that of French neoclassicism. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (1715–1783) designed gardens at Stowe and Chatsworth in this style, creating serpentine water features, elegant vistas, rustic Greek temples, and natural-looking treescapes.

Two visitors, one male, one female in the newly re-created Delos garden in summer at Sissinghurst Castle Garden, Kent
Visitors in the newly re-created Delos garden at Sissinghurst Castle Garden | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Romantic wilderness

As the picturesque came to be valued in the later eighteenth-century, the pastoral gave way increasingly to the wild and Romantic. Humphry Repton (1752–1818) and his contemporaries in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries began to add artificial ruins and wildernesses to the gardens at Blaise Castle and Woburn Abbey.

Later developments

The landscape garden continued to evolve over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the Arts and Crafts movement’s turn toward the cottage garden, which combined function with aesthetic appeal. This culminated in Gertrude Jekyll’s designs at Munstead Wood and in Vita Sackville-West’s garden at Sissinghurst Castle.

The Pantheon in September sunshine at Stourhead, Wiltshire, England
The Pantheon in September sunshine at Stourhead, Wiltshire | © National Trust Images/James Dobson

Landscapes of meaning

At every point in the history of English landscape design, the garden was invested with political meaning. To garden in the informal style after the Glorious Revolution was to state opposition to Stuart tyranny, whilst Capability Brown’s eighteenth-century pastoral gardens expressed the polite civility to which England’s landed classes aspired.

Repton’s Romantic landscapes embraced the savage freedom of the natural world, which hinted at social and political disruption. The Arts and Crafts garden style was a rejection of industrial England and an attempt to restore the landscape to a pre-industrial ideal.

Trusted source

This article contains contributions from Allison Adler Kroll from the University of Oxford who specialises in English literature, history, and culture from 1800 to the present day, and also has research interests in political history and theatre. Allison is a contributor to the Trusted Source project. 

Our partners

The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities

A hub for multi-disciplinary research projects and research engagement at the University of Oxford

Visit website 

You might also be interested in

The dovecote in the walled garden at Felbrigg, shown with the lily pond in the foreground.
Article
Article

What are Trusted Source articles? 

Find out more about our Trusted Source articles, which were created in partnership with the University of Oxford, and explore topics related to the special places in our care.

The Garden House in the Pleasure Grounds at Osterley Park and House, Middlesex
Article
Article

Garden design through the ages 

Explore how changing tastes influenced the style of gardens over the centuries and discover where you can find the best examples from each period at the places we care for.

Looking over the Half Moon Pond and weir of Studley Royal Water Garden from the Surprise View towards Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire.
Article
Article

What is a water garden? 

Find out how water gardens have evolved with changing tastes, from European inspiration and ornamental canals to the water feature in your garden today.

Sunny view of a glasshouse with flowering plants on either side
Article
Article

History of glasshouses, orangeries and garden sheds 

Discover the evolution in garden buildings – from exclusive hothouses for rare new finds, to the cornerstones of every garden today.

The south front and formal garden at Mount Stewart, County Down in Northern Ireland.
Article
Article

Plant collectors and historic gardens 

Discover some of the finest historic gardens in our care and how they were shaped by Victorian plant collectors, as they gathered plant species from across the globe.

Garden volunteers clearing beds in autumn at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire

Gardening tips 

Discover our gardeners’ top tips so you can make the most of your garden, plot or window box.

A man stands on a bridge in the distance surrounded by trees and bushes clothed in autumn colours
Article
Article

Famous gardens 

We care for hundreds of historic gardens, encompassing more than 500 years of history and a range of garden styles and fashions. Learn about the most famous and significant gardens you can visit.

Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Basset dancing at a ball filmed at Stowe in Buckinghamshire.

Discover more with the National Trust Podcast 

Explore Claremont Landscape Garden in Surrey in our podcast episode 'A garden fit for Bridgerton' to uncover historic parties described as the lovechild of a music festival and a garden party. You can also find more episodes from series seven, filled with nature and history.