More information : [Name ST 81404337] Longleat Park [NAT] (1)
Landscape park covering an area of 280ha. with with 19th and 20th century formal gardens (2.5ha). A walled kitchen garden is situated 1km to south of Longleat House. A formal, enclosed garden was created for the 16th house, and comprised borders, walks, and hedges and is depicted in paintings of the 1670s with twin fountains. This scheme was extended and completed by 1694 by George London and Henry Wise, illustrated by Leonard Knyff c. 1700, and comprised parterres, fountains, a labyrinth, bowling green and wilderness. Capability Brown replaced the formal gardens with a lawn, re-developed the canal as a chain of lakes, and created a shrubbery walk. He was also responsible for the fragmentation of most of the straight avenues into clumps of trees. Humphry Repton was consulted 1803 and was responsible for the alteration of the lakes, and thinning the plantations. During the mid 19th century a formal garden centred on a central fountain was created. Extensive forestry with extensive drives was developed during the 1870s. The formal gardens were modified and simplified during the 1940s by Russell Page. (2)
Formal gardens in the Franco-Dutch style were designed by George London and the Brompton Park Nurseries in 1683. These were deformalised during the early 18th century. Complex formal gardens were laid out by Alexander Thynn and Head Gardener William Taylor in 1852. Following the First World War the gardens were simplified, and redesigned by Russell Page in 1929. New garden features have been added since 1992. Lancelot Brown was commissioned in 1757 to lay out a park and remove the remaining formal elements of the garden. Further alterations to the park were made during the 1790s. Humphry Repton was commissioned in 1803-4 for changes within the park. (3)
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