Irreplaceable: A History of England in 100 Places - Homes & Gardens

Autochrome Lumière was the first commercially successful colour photographic process. It was patented by Auguste and Louis Lumière in 1903 and made available to the public in 1907. The Lumières are more well-known for their pioneering cinematic filmmaking. However they regarded this as a novelty and were more concerned with the family photographic plate business.

 

From the 1890s the brothers experimented with colour photography but it wasn’t until they developed the Autochrome process that colour photography eventually took off. Although it was relatively expensive, Autochrome Lumière plates were easy to use and remained the principal colour photography process until the 1930s.

Around 200 images derived by the Autochrome Lumière process are held by the Historic England Archive. The images reproduced here are from a collection of Autochromes of English gardens that were probably taken between 1910 and 1930 by an unknown photographer or photographers. Blooming flowers, vegetables and other plants with their vibrant colours set in tranquil country house gardens offered perfect subjects for this pioneering photographic process. 

The manor of Westonbirt dates to the Middle Ages. Robert Stayner Holford succeeded to the estate in 1839. A collector of books and paintings, Holford was also interested in planting and gardening. He extended the gardens and replaced the house, one of the most expensive built during the 19th century. It remained in the family until 1927 when it was sold to the Martyrs' Memorial and Church of England Trust, who established a school there the following year. The magnificent arboretum, which had been established to the north-west of the house in 1829, passed to the Forestry Commission in 1956 in lieu of death duties. It is now known as the National Arboretum.

This damaged Autochrome was taken within the Cruciform Pergola in the gardens of The Hill in the London Borough of Camden. Built in the early 19th century as Hill House, it was purchased in 1904 by the industrialist Sir William Hesketh Lever. Lever had the house rebuilt and enlarged, renaming it The Hill, and engaged Thomas Mawson to redesign the gardens. The new garden included terraces that were formed from spoil excavated during the building of the underground railway at Hampstead.

Compton Wynates dates mainly from around 1500 and incorporates some earlier features. Built around a central courtyard, it was once a fortified manor house protected by a moat. A surviving part of the moat now forms a garden pond. Remarkably, Compton Wynyates and its predecessor houses have been in the ownership of the Compton family since the 13th century.

This Autochrome photograph captures the warm red brick of Tylney Hall as well as the variety of tones of the flowers in the Dutch Garden. A mansion had existed on the site since the 16th century. The house pictured was built in 1879 and extended in 1899-1901 (the Dutch Garden was laid out at this time) and again in 1901-04. During the First World War Tylney was used as a hospital, and in 1933 it became the headquarters of the Clan Line shipping line. Tylney Hall is now a luxury hotel.