Claremont Landscape Garden
Claremont Landscape Garden, just outside Esher in Surrey, is one of the earliest surviving gardens of its kind of landscape design, the 'English landscape garden' style, still featuring its original 18th-century layout.
Today is owned by the National Trust and opened to the public.
History
Originally created for Claremont House, the garden represents the work of some of the best known landscape gardeners, such as Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, Sir John Vanbrugh and Capability Brown.
Work on the gardens began around 1715 and by 1727 they were described as "the noblest of any in Europe". Within the grounds, overlooking the lake, is an unusual turfed amphitheatre, which used to form the centrepiece of an annual event called the Claremont Fête champêtre. Hundreds of visitors descended on Claremont, most in costume (each year has a different theme) to enjoy four days of music, theatre and fireworks.
The garden today
In 1949 the landscape garden was donated to the National Trust for stewardship and protection. A restoration programme was launched in 1975 following a significant donation by the Slater Foundation, allowing the clearance of overgrown vegetation and rhododendron, the clearance and restoration of the amphitheatre and the opening of the vistas enjoyed by the garden.
Also within the grounds is the Belvedere Tower, designed by Sir John Vanbrugh for the Duke of Newcastle. The tower is unusual in that what appear to be windows, are actually a Trompe-l'œil: bricks painted black and white. The Belvedere is owned by Claremont Fan Court School, which owns the mansion alongside the gardens.
Outside links
- Location map: 51°21’28"N, 0°22’41"W
- Claremont Landscape Garden - National Trust
References
- Turner, Roger, Capability Brown and the Eighteenth Century English Landscape, 2nd ed. Phillimore, Chichester, 1999, pp. 115- 118.
