Social and Cultural History of 18th Century Gardens

Overview

The creation of gardens large or small depended on a combination of architecture, horticulture, botany, archaeology, art, politics and a fertile imagination. All these themes will be explored in relation to our case studies as we explore a selection of gardens that reflect the key trends in garden design and creation during the 18th century. The formal garden style which had evolved in Italy and France in the 17th century continued to dominate British garden creation until the mid-18th century.

However, the growing discontent, with this rigid formality cleared the way for a fresh approach in garden design. Topiary, symmetry and parterres fell out of fashion as nature came to be seen as something to be emulated, not subdued. This impetus came from the new found love of country life and the rural idyll as advocated by landscape designer Stephen Switzer.

The shift in political power in the early 18th century, from the crown to that of the landed aristocracy produced a new and ‘Polite Society’ who embarked on a campaign of remodelling or building grand new country houses with even grander gardens and landscape to match. Throughout the long 18th century, many beautiful and varied landscapes were created and have survived for  the garden historian to explore.

We will look at the various trends in the first half of the 18th century which introduced rustic, Chinese and gothic elements into the garden as well as venturing into the delightful frivolity of the Rococo garden and the flower filled ornamental farm or Ferme ornee established by the designer Philip Southcote as a variation on landscape garden. The trickle of new and exotic plants from newly explored regions became a fast-flowing stream which instigated an interest in botany and horticulture leading to the expansion of the nursery trade.

Ancient Greek notions of the Arcadian pastoral landscape influenced  eighteenth-century landscape gardens. We will explore how the fashionable Grand tour around Europe influenced Britain’s cultural, social and architectural development including the creation of gardens. Enthused by the distant hills, groves of trees and ancient ruins gleaned in Italy from the paintings of artists such as Claude Lorrain, Nicholas Poussin and Salvator Rosa, the grand tourist returned laden with newly commissioned artworks and pilfered statuary from ancient sites, sought to replicate these vast arcadian landscapes on their estates.   

We will also look at the ambitious plans of talented ‘amateur’ garden designers who created their own unique gardens and landscapes often on a more human scale while shunning the craze for planting countless avenues marching far into the horizon. During this course we will examine how classical authors like Pliny the Younger and Ovid influenced contemporary intellectuals and commentators such as Alexander Pope and Joseph Addison leading garden makers like Switzer, Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, Lancelot Brown and others to create some of the most enduring and iconic landscapes of our time.

Lancelot Brown who took the landscape style one stage further has been accused of being the vandal who ‘swept away’ the beautiful formal gardens of the early 18th century. But was he a Vandal or a Visionary? You can decide, as we follow the course of the landscape garden. 

Programme details

Courses starts: 23 Jan 2025

Week 1: Introduction: Looking to France and Italy.

Case studies - Hampton Court and Melbourne Hall.

Week 2: An Orange interlude: The Anglo-Dutch Gardens.

Case studies: Westbury Court and Castle Bromwich Gardens

Week 3: A little wiggle: Between artifice and nature:

Case study: Alexander Popes garden at Twickenham

Week 4: In search of antiques and antiquity - Influences of the Classics and Grand tour.

Case study William Kent at Rousham

Week 5: Georgian gardens part 1: The improvers - Elite amateurs and exotic influences.

Case studies – Ferme ornee at Wooburn Farm and Painswick Rococo garden

Week 6: Georgian garden 2: Nature improved, perfected and profitable.

Case study - Lancelot Brown at Blenheim.

Week 7:  New flowers in the garden, trees in the landscape – Collectors and nurserymen.

Week 8: Painterly expectations: The picturesque debate

Week 9: Humphrey Repton ‘Landscape gardener’ and the new money

Case study- Warley Woods, Birmingham.

Week 10: Into the shrubbery: Regency gardens

 

Certification

To complete the course and receive a certificate, you will be required to attend at least 80% of the classes on the course and pass your final assignment. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £285.00
Take this course for CATS points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mrs Advolly Richmond

Advolly Richmond FLS, is an plant and social historian with an MA in garden history. She regularly presents garden history features on Gardeners' World television programme and also contributes plant history profiles on the BBC's Gardeners' Question Time. Her latest book, A Short History of Flowers: The Stories that make our gardens (Frances Lincoln) explores the cultural, social and cultivation histories of 60 plants and flowers.

Course aims

To provide an overview of the landscape gardens through lively and informative sessions and more indepth case studies.

Course objectives:

To set British landscape gardens in their social, political, economic and cultural context in order to enhance the participants understanding of how, when and why they were created.

To enable and encourage the participants to pursue their own independent research after the course.

Teaching methods

Informal fully illustrated lectures and discussion. Visual sources such as garden plans, historic paintings and occasional handouts.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

Have the ability to 'read' elements of designed landscape gardens and their development. 

Understand how and why the various trends within landscape gardens were driven by the social, economic, cultural and political climate of the time.

Assessment methods

An essay of maximum 1500 words. You can choose the subject of your essay from the broad range of elements covered of the course, which will be agreed in advance with the tutor.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)

Level and demands

A good grasp of English and an inquisitive mind.

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.