Sanderson Miller and His Landscapes

Abstract

Sanderson Miller (1716-80), of Radway in south Warwickshire, was a gentleman architect and landscape designer. Miller created a distinctive, informal landscape style that was surprisingly innovative for the period. He is well known for his architecture, but his creative landscape designs have been largely overlooked until now. Many of Miller's landscapes were completed over a decade before 'Capability' Brown, the most famous of England's landscape designers, set up his own practice in 1749. Using diaries and other personal correspondence, this book makes the pioneering claim that not only was Miller's style original but it also strongly influenced his illustrious successor. In the late 1730s, Miller designed the landscape for his own estate and created a mock ruined castle at Edgehill. This was an immediate success and prompted many requests from political and military leaders of the time for other mock ruins, the best known of which are at Hagley (Worcestershire) and Wimpole (Cambridgeshire). Miller's naturalistic landscape designs were centred on the importance of views, the creation of lakes and other water features and the use of indigenous trees, together with landscape buildings in various styles. Similarities with the work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown are striking, and it has become clear that Miller almost certainly influenced Brown's designs and even assisted him in acquiring his first commissions. Sanderson Miller can now be seen to have played an influential role in the development of the English natural landscape style, one of England's greatest claims to artistic fame. Through meticulous research and a stunning selection of illustrations, the author has succeeded in painting a vivid portrait of Sanderson's life.