In the late 1700s, Britain was starting to become more prosperous. This wasn’t the case for everyone. At the higher end of society, the landed gentry were able to invest in projects in Africa and the Americas that would bring in lots of revenue. This was the slave trade. They wanted something to spend their money on. Huge stately homes were built. A large home needs a nice garden, and they began to copy the grand formal designs of Versailles. However, with trouble brewing with France, Britain wanted something more distinctive. They turned to one man with all the ideas. Lancelot “Capability” Brown.
Brown’s ideas were learnt from his trainer William Kent. Kent’s view was to do away with all the formal gardens and replace them with a natural landscape. They wanted to show “nature, red in tooth and claw”. This meant ripping out the old formal gardens requiring days of labour. Unlike our modern day gardens that are neatly surrounded by obvious boundaries like from this fencing Gloucester based company www.greenfieldsltd.co.uk/services/fencing/ these were vast expansive landscapes.
The primary look of Browns’ plan was to have the house surrounded by a large turf lawn. Trees would be dotted in clumps around the place. Local water sources were tapped so that they could make a large lake in the middle of the property or near the main house. One of the reasons we don’t have many examples of the formal garden is because of Brown and his capability.