Part I: The project

Abstract

In 1782, Horace Walpole published the second edition of his essay ‘The History of the Modern Taste in Gardening’, writing that ‘the imitation of Nature in Gardens, or rather in laying out Ground, still called Gardening for want of a specific term to distinguish an Art totally new, is Original, and undisputably English!’1 Sharply critical of formal garden styles, Walpole championed the emergence of the eighteenth-century English landscape garden, characterized by open lawns, irregular woods, and romantic views, as ‘the point of perfection’. With a rolling lawn, serpentine woods, and views into the surrounding countryside and across the Thames, Walpole’s own garden at Strawberry Hill (figure I) epitomized many of the principles lauded in his essay. The approximately nine-acre garden, developed between 1749 and 1797, also featured a collection of Gothic architectural elements, most notably a small chapel, as well as flower beds, a series of ponds, and other sculptural and decorative features. Surrounded by fields and meadows on three sides, the garden formed the heart of Walpole’s 46-acre estate, providing a setting of ‘gay tranquility’ for his Gothic villa.2