Capability Brown

And so that is a change that happens sort of in the first half of the 18th century.

And then you get Capability Brown and the other people around him.

and there you're going for a completely deformalized landscape all your walls are swept away and instead of them you have um ha ha's which are sort of hidden ditches so you can stop the cattle coming in but you can create a landscape where you can view out from the garden into the wider fields beyond and it almost feels like the garden is part of the the wider landscape you also have trees but planted in sort of arty clumps to look natural even though they're not often to conceal a building so but then when you come around the corner you suddenly see a garden building so you're And you get a reveal.

And you get a reveal.

So it's creating a very different type of landscape.

And you can see that here at Audley, where Capability Brown came in the 1760s.

And he made major changes here with Sir John Griffin Griffin.

I mean, he reshaped, he swept away that formal landscape I was describing before.

It's about immediacy.

The trade in mature trees has a long and storied history, extending at least to the 18th century, and the English gardener Lancelot Brown nicknamed Capability.

Even in his time, Brown was equally celebrated and reviled for reshaping English landscapes to suit the shifting tastes of his landed clientele.

during the peak of his influence the continental gardens that had previously been the fashion fell victim to estate owners who simply couldn't or wouldn't wait the thirty or more years needed for an oak to attain a lofty height as one of brown's biographers noted Clipped parterres gave way to swaths of acreage studded with transplanted giants.

We then see Miss Giddens riding out to Bly Manor, as represented by Sheffield Park in Sussex, and by God do they make the most of the gorgeous scenery and wide, expansive vistas of CinemaScope.

The park was designed and landscaped by the incredibly famous landscape architect Capability Brown, real name Lancelot Brown, who was kind of the go-to guy for rich estate owners of the 18th century, and who has something like 170 historical parks and gardens to his name, and it's kind of a quintessential example of British scenery in that regard.

If you've ever read Discworld, by the way, the landscaper Bloody Stupid Johnson is a parody of Capability Brown.

Miss Giddens gets out when she reaches the gates, deciding to take in the scenery and the lush spring weather, and we get our first sign of the supernatural when she hears a voice calling out for Flora that the little girl claims not to have heard when Miss Giddens finally stumbles upon her.

And look at these great gardens.

They're all designed by Capability Brown.

And aren't they fantastic? And, you know, this is the original house of the, you know, Mr.

Smith, right? And then not mentioning the fact that this is the original house of Mr.

It's about immediacy.

The trade in mature trees has a long and storied history, extending at least to the 18th century, and the English gardener Lancelot Brown nicknamed Capability.

Even in his time, Brown was equally celebrated and reviled for reshaping English landscapes to suit the shifting tastes of his landed clientele.

During the peak of his influence, the continental gardens that had previously been the fashion fell victim to estate owners who simply couldn't or wouldn't wait the 30 or more years needed for an oak to attain a lofty height, as one of Brown's biographers noted.

What is the Great Run?

Well, the Great Run is this sweeping hill you can see that's sort of open pasture, because when the house, the house that's behind us, 18th century house, was built, they also laid out a parkland, which we probably think was by Capability Brown.

And so they created these sweeping vistas, which was trendy, you know, in 1760, opening up the views.

It was all about the views-

Landscape design also played a role.

The employment of landscape architects like Capability Brown reimagined estates into pastoral spectacles that mirrored the wealth on display inside.

This relationship between house and gardens was not merely aesthetic.

It demonstrated to visitors and potential suitors a well-managed, productive estate.