Stowe Landscaped Gardens

Post

Subscribe

What would you do if you were richer than the king? Mightn't be a bad idea to create a kingdom of your own, though if you're going to build it yourself why not make it better than reality – why not make it perfect. This is how Stowe Garden came about. It's composed British scenery at its best, a landscape which gradually changes around a few perfect postcard views designed to be seen at strolling pace. And none of the 'natural' features are natural, the lake, wood and valley are all man made and enhanced to the idyllic so they appear perfectly classical. This was the domain of the Temple family.

They made their money in sheep – which might be why there are still sheep grazing the gardens acting as if they own the place – and gradually built on the house and land. Much of the grand work was done in the 17th Century, when, as well as the house getting its current, many pillared, front and show-piece south façade which overlooks the gardens, a triumphal arch was built over the driveway from Buckingham. If you're trying to impress people this is the way to do it, and the Temple's did have lots of distinguished visitors to impress, including royalty from home and abroad - French kings and Russian Tsars.

Some of the information boards by the garden's entrance make it sound more like a work of art than a garden, with plenty of references to classical painters and multiple uses of words like composition, framing and perspective; and it would be quite easy to believe that this garden was copied from a painting and not the other way around. But it wasn't. The reason the gardens are reminiscent of so many pictures is that many guests to the house and gardens lauded its beauty in the medium of poetry or paint – and the calibre of the house guests has already been mentioned.

As well as digging out a perfectly shaped lake, adding some charmingly rolling hills and dales and planting the 'right kind' of forests, the Temple's landscape gardeners built several classical looking temples - one very Gothic and one very Greek and one very Roman, a stone covered bridge, a grotto, a waterfall, Some artificial ruins, a cave, a wooden Chinese House, a monument to the ancient Greeks in an area called the Elysium Fields and a 'Temple of British Worthies', which is a monument to important Brits including Shakespeare, Isaac Newton and Elizabeth I. There are also many statues hidden in the undergrowth that you won't spot until you're almost upon them, and several well positioned seats.

One of the only 'real' features in the garden in the old parish church, which has lovely ornate stone work that the Temple's did a good job of maintaining. From this list you may think that it's going to be more of a museum of antiquities than a garden, but everything is harmoniously arranged so that each vista is a lovely composition of space, natural beauty and 'features'. And there's still plenty of grass for picnicking. The other nice thing about the garden's layout is that you often feel like you're the only one enjoying it – the trees that hide the statues also shield the guests.

What you see today is as close to the plans of the gardens at their peak as possible. When the National Trust took over the house and gardens in the 1980s they had plenty to go on – extensive records had been kept regarding the garden's design up until the 1840s when the Temple family's fortunes changed and they had to start selling their treasures. Many of the garden's original stautes were sold and the ones you see today are copies.

At the moment Stowe House is a school – going to school here would be a bit like going to school at Hogwarts – so during term time the only way you can have a look inside the house is on a guided tour, but during the holidays you can have a better poke around. The gardens are open every day of the year.

#parks
#historic_houses
%wnlondon