Brown Only
Having written about Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown in my last blog, a week ago I unexpectedly found myself standing in a landscape created by the man himself – Audley End estate in Essex. Part of the grounds had been taken over by the BBC Autumn Fair and Flower Show – a three day event – and SeeHow had a marquee there. I recognised Brown’s fingerprint as soon as we arrived on the edge of the estate. The main road cuts across the north side. Originally it was set in a cutting, but over the years the level has been raised and cars now have an amazing view south towards Audley End House beyond the small lake. The road to the show hops over the western end of the lake on a bridge designed by Brown as part of the estate ‘make-over’ – smaller, but not dissimilar in terms of visual impact to the bridge crossing the mouth of the Deveron River by Duff House Royal Golf Club, close to where I live.
My previous blog had left me thinking about the man’s legacy and especially about the connection between his approach to landscape design and the design of golf courses. It was fun therefore to be able to wander the grounds at Audley End, with time to appreciate the grandeur of the design. And it was while at Audley End that I met Mr Brown in person – at least a character dressed up as Mr Brown! He was taking guided tours and I had the opportunity to talk to him personally about his ideas, interestingly, while he remained in character. We discussed the shape of the lake, the profile of the distant low hills and the types and positions of specific trees.
I was struck not just by the grand nature of Brown’s design gestures, but by his attention to detail - his focus on natural beauty – especially trees and how we would enjoy this as the garden evolved over the decades and centuries. Gardening is an organic process that changes with time. Some changes are annual - as shown by SeeHow, while some are longer, taking decades - even centuries! Brown chose and positioned trees with these thoughts in mind, creating and framing important views. He selected specific tree species to achieve these effects and there is a wonderful group of now mature Plane trees at Audley End that do just this … very long-term planning indeed!
He visually raised the apparent heights of surrounding hills, using the tallest tree species planted at the tops – increasing the landscape drama. He introduced swept, curvaceous driveways and footpaths, getting rid of the more formal ‘straight line’, reflecting the artist Hogarth’s views on beauty. Standing in the midst of these enormous interventions and having the opportunity to walk the estate and enjoy Brown’s vistas, I again found myself experiencing the same elemental pleasure I enjoyed walking my local golf courses. The large crowds, there mainly for the flower-show, did not detract from this pleasure. The wide-open landscape absorbed them and I watch as many-hundreds of visitors slowly wandered off from the flower-show stands, to enjoy the parkland setting where ‘ha ha’ ditches replaced fences and beautiful specimen trees dotted the landscape.
Brown’s designs create an idealised landscape that reflects one of the ways we see and enjoy beauty and in many ways golf courses do the same, adopting similar strategies but for the purposes of the game itself, with their fairways and greens providing the vistas and events that structure the views all around. Of course we cannot apply this formula everywhere. We must still ensure that there is space for mother-nature to exist naturally within the mix. This now needs to be a conscious act as we humans have over-run the planet. SeeHow recognises this and includes a wide selection of plants that are insect and pollinator friendly, helping to create beautiful year-round gardens that support biodiversity.
The theme of the show-gardens at the Audley End Fair was, ‘formal planting for a dryer future’. The gardens were all in very constrained plots, challenging the creativity of the designers, while carrying such an important message for all of us. And it was super-pleasing to see so many plants used that are included in SeeHow. Looking along the line of show gardens with their focus on biodiversity and climate change, I was struck by the fact that we were there, in that location thanks to Brown, in a landscape he created over 200 years earlier. It may have been created for the social-elite but it now served everyone.
The above Text and all Photographs are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text.