Capability Brown's Grand Plan for Weston Park

Before Capability Brown's time, the landscape at Weston Park was a combination of ornamental formal gardens and farmland surrounding the old house. The village of Weston-under-Lizard came close to the mansion, with the village lane being to the north of the house

This painting, although showing a Dutch scene, depicts the sort of formal garden that might have existed before Capability Brown's landscaping

Here the house is show next to the Church of St Andrew with avenues radiating south and east. This was the landscape that Capability Brown would have found when he was invited to design the new park and pleasure grounds in the 1760s

As the eighteenth century progressed, tastes changed and informal landscapes became more fashionable

As this plan by William Kent shows, the grounds at Esher Place, which Kent worked on, came to include informal, curving paths

Stowe now combines some elements of formal planting although the overall look of the landscape is of one that appears to be wholly natural, with gentle curves and apparently incidental planting

Creating a vast landscape garden of the type that Capability Brown produced did not happen by accident. It is highly planned and the Weston Park Capability Brown map is so vitally important as a historical document since it is the key to the inception of this important garden  that we see today.

The first thing that impresses about the plan is its size - it measures over two metres long by one metre high

The reason that the map is so very large is because of the detail that it contains - it shows all that he wanted to do, including the types of tree that he wanted to plant and whether they should be deciduous or coniferous

Capability Brown was focused on what mattered within the family's vision but this also meant that he had to take an interest in creating a service infrastructure. Here he shows the 'Back Road to the House' - effectively a service drive

The plan was, essentially, a working or discussion document, since Capability Brown was working for clients whose views also mattered. They were, after all, paying for the pleasure grounds that emerged!

Certain elements of what exists at Weston Park do not appear on the Brown map, such as Temple Pool and also the Roman Bridge designed by James Paine and these were clearly after-thoughts

Marked on the map as 'Menagerie & Dairy' is the site of what we know today as the Temple of Diana. We can see it clearly drawn as a rectangle, with two dots below, suggesting a colonnade or loggia

In the eighteenth century, a menagerie tended to be an enclosure of exotic non-native birds. Having such a collection placed the owner in the vanguard of fashion

Lady Bridgeman was one of many noble women of her time who had collections of birds and this interest is reflected in the depiction of birds in fine and decorative art at the time

Dairies, too, were important status symbols for ladies of taste. They showed an awareness of domestic science and cleanliness - and also provided an excellent excuse to purchase fashionable wares from makers like Wedgwood

As this section shows, the Temple was always intended to have grand interiors

Capability Brown had trained as a practical gardener when he was a young man living in Northumberland. Some people never forgot this - including his architectural rival Sir William Chambers, who dismissed Brown as 'a peasant risen from the melon bed'!

This early experience, though, meant that Brown knew exactly how a kitchen garden should be planned for maximum efficiency and productivity

To enable the tender plants i the lower garden to prosper, stoves - to heat the wall - were built

The plan evidently proved to be a great success, since its recommendations - with further improvements that were probably made in liaison with the clients, the Bridgemans - were enacted upon.

The biodiversity is further broadened by the wide range of wood beetles that the veteran trees support and this is something that the Weston Park Foundation, the owners of Weston Park, are keen to share with others.

Our public programme events and learning sessions with schools enable the vital sharing of this remarkable asset as a learning resource.

Although Capability Brown's map was created two hundred and fifty years ago its own value in understanding the landscape remains as important as ever. As the Weston Park Foundation progresses with its important work in conserving this internationally important garden the plan is a vital guide to the charity's work.

Although Capability Brown's map was created two hundred and fifty years ago its own value in understanding the landscape remains as important as ever.

As the Weston Park Foundation progresses with its important work in conserving this internationally important garden the plan is a vital guide to the charity's work.