The Vanished Garden at Wentworth Woodhouse

The large garden at Yorkshire's grandest country house, Wentworth Woodhouse, is enclosed by the mansion, stables, walled garden and prospect terrace. It is tragic that the garden was infamously erased by post-war opencast coal mining, though restoration has begun with the advent of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust.

This talk will excavate the earlier layers that were shaped by changing fashions in garden design.

• Gasp, with the Georgians, at the 100 foot high Mount and its panoramic prospects.
• Wonder, at some of the earliest Camellias introduced into Britain (fortunately, the Camellia House survived the post-war destruction).
• Ponder, the advice from the poet-gardener, William Mason, and the garden designer, Humphry Repton.
• Revel, in the views from the prospect terrace that reveal the extensive and monument rich landscape of the estate.

(And check Youtube, for Patrick's earlier talk for the WWPT on ‘The Rival Wentworths: Georgian Mansions, Monuments and Landscapes’ ).

This lecture will provide a fascinating insight into one part of Wentworth Woodhouse's past. It will be an essential introduction for members looking forward to our visit on 10 June, which will be led by Patrick Eyres and Karen Lynch.

About our speaker:

Dr Patrick Eyres is editor and publisher of the unique New Arcadian Journal, in which artists and writers explore the landscape garden. He is currently preparing the 56th and penultimate edition. He has also published in numerous other books and journals, and co-edited Sculpture and The Garden (2006, 2nd edn 2017). Since the mid-1980s he has been captivated by the Georgian landscapes of the rival Yorkshire Wentworths (W Castle and W Woodhouse), and has published and lectured extensively about them. He was on the board of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust, which was responsible for the highly successful restoration, over fifteen years, of the buildings, gardens, monuments and parkland. For many years he served on the boards of the Leeds Art Fund, Garden History Society and Little Sparta Trust. On behalf of The Gardens Trust, he set up and chaired for the first ten years the annual New Research Symposium in Garden History. He continues to advise on the conservation of Little Sparta.

Images:

Chris Broughton: Transcription of Wentworth Woodhouse estate survey, c.1776, New Arcadian Journal. (The Camellia House is on the left and the text records opencast coal mining in the park during the 18C).

The Camellia House, before restoration.

Host or Publisher Leeds Art Fund