A View of Wooburn in Surrey, the Seat of Philip South cote Esq.r.

Wooburn is considered the first ‘ferme ornée’, or ornamental farm. The farm, which appeared only during the 1700s and 1800s, embraced Romantic ideals of forming a harmonious relationship between man and nature.

Ferme ornée was coined as a phrase by garden designer Stephen Switzer in his 1718 book Iconographia Rustica: or the Nobleman, Gentleman and Gardener’s Recreation. He discusses combining a working farm with landscaping, stating that ‘…Profit and Pleasure may be agreeably mix’d together’. The ladies in this scene seem to be enjoying watching the cow being milked nearby.