Designed landscapes of the central Northamptonshire gentry: c. 1770 - c. 1840
The designed landscapes of the gentry have frequently been studied as examples of the landscapes of a county, designer or period and have rarely been treated as distinctively gentry landscapes. The wealth, size of landholding and role the gentry played in local governance often resulted in an intima...
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| Format: | Thesis (University of Nottingham only) |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2024
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/77128/ |
| Summary: | The designed landscapes of the gentry have frequently been studied as examples of the landscapes of a county, designer or period and have rarely been treated as distinctively gentry landscapes. The wealth, size of landholding and role the gentry played in local governance often resulted in an intimate relationship expressed socially and spatially in the village and parish in which the Hall and designed landscape were located which has also been generally ignored. This thesis is a close study of four designed landscapes which aims to understand the form and function of improvements considered or made and the relationship between the designed landscapes and the village and parish of which they were a part.
The first part of the thesis establishes the key concepts, methodology of the thesis and the historical geography of central Northamptonshire in the mid-late eighteenth century, a period of rapid political, social and economic change locally and nationally. The second part of the thesis describes and analyses the improvements to each landscape establishing a chronology of change in the context of the interests and personality of the landowner and the neighbouring village.
I argue that these four landscapes show an evolution in the design pleasure grounds belonging to the landed gentry. The evolution can be understood, in part, as a response to the growth of extra-urban villa landscapes. The close study of these landscapes also reveals the importance of landowner personalities and the hidden participation of women in horticulture and decision making.
I suggest that a close study of designed landscapes within a narrow and spatial and temporal framework demonstrates more complexity than is sometimes acknowledged and can add nuance and detail to our understanding of historical designed landscapes. |
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