History of Parks and Gardens

Gardens and Parks... how they have developed and changed:

Gardens have a story to tell about our relationship to nature, art, design, power, and even philosophy. The earliest gardens were always productive. Walls gave protection from the elements and provided safe places in which to relax, socialise and reflect. The idea was to provide an earthly paradise, a paradise sheltered from the outside world.

The garden took on many variations until they were extended into the surrounding countryside. With this came a new scale which showed the power, influence and taste of the owner; think of Versailles, Hampton Court and Peterhof. Changing taste and economics brought a new style, the English Garden, which emulated nature and art. More than any other style, the English Garden spread across the world and formed the basis for our public parks.

2016 saw the 300^th anniversary of the birth of Capability Brown who popularised the landscape style. See capabilitybrown.org for more information.

There are more designed parks and gardens created since the start of the 20^th century than any other time in history. If you want to know more, click  read more below and the linked PDF for a short history of gardens and parks. This was prepared for an EU project the European Garden Heritage Network (EGHN) and more information on gardens across Europe can be found Here

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