Introduction to Garden History
1 November 2020 - 16 February 2023
Recorded sessions – 90 minutes each
£59 – £499
RECORDED sessions online (full details on acceptance of booking)
Description
The subject of garden history links a considerable number of disciplines.
Its obvious associations with the world of art and architectural history join subjects such as geography and social, scientific and economic histories making up a rich and varied area of study.
This wide range of subjects, focussing on the creation and management of great gardens, provides a fascinating platform from which to discover the progress of civilisation and taste over the centuries.
This ten‐week introductory course will focus largely on British gardens following the chronological development of gardens from Ancient Rome to the twentieth‐century.
“I do not think The Course could be improved. The organization, lecturers and venue are all first class”
Course Outline
Lecture 1 – Subject Introduction And Gardens Of The Roman World
Overview of garden history as an art history/architectural history related subject concluding with a look at the archaeology of Pompeii & the Roman villa garden at Fishbourne.
Lecture 2 – The Mediaeval Garden
A look at European religious institutional gardens and their secular equivalents including the influence of Islam.
Lecture 3 – The Renaissance Garden
British garden design of the Tudor and early Stuart era and the influence of Italy.
Lecture 4 – The Baroque Garden
The influence of Le Notre, French and Dutch garden design on the gardens of Charles II and William and Mary.
Lecture 5 – The Landscape Garden
The transition from formality to the ‘natural style’ and the triumph of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in England.
Lecture 6 – The Art of Garden Visiting
An exploration of the diaries and accounts of ambassadors, gentlefolk and gardeners who recorded their visits to famous gardens between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Lecture 7 – The Picturesque Garden
William Gilpin, Humphry Repton and the Prince Regent. Landscape and the picturesque deal.
Lecture 8 – The Victorian Garden
Historic revivalism, technical innovations and gardening at the height of the industrial revolution.
Lecture 9 – Edwardian Britain
The partnership of Gertrude Jekyll and Edwin Lutyens and their influence on gardens of Edwardian Britain.
Lecture 10 – Twentieth Century
Gardens and landscapes through the progress of the twentieth century. A look at garden makers such as Vita Sackville West and Lawrence Johnston and landscape architects Geoffrey Jellicoe and Mein Ruys.