Gardening
On the Spot: The Yorkshire Red Books of Humphry Repton, Landscape Gardener Patrick Eyres and Karen Lynch (New Arcadian Press, £20)
Humphry repton’s red Books of design proposals, interspersed with tempting before-and-after watercolours, typically contained much useful advice, but his clients were inclined to cherry-pick. repton himself hoped that posterity would remember him for his stated intentions rather than for their diluted execution on the ground. this splendid new publication, which examines his work in yorkshire between 1790 and 1810, confirms these general impressions.
repton’s yorkshire clients tended either to be wealthy landowners with extra commercial clout, such as the sugarfunded Lascelles family at Harewood and the coal-owning earl Fitzwilliam at wentworth woodhouse, or new men of the industrial revolution, such as the mill owner Benjamin gott at Armley park in Leeds. everywhere, repton screened out infelicities, designed elegant, sweeping carriage drives and introduced floral domesticity around the house.
For once, we can judge these attractive ideas from a reading of the complete text, with the full set of illustrations in the right order—an exceptional treat.
this marvellous achievement is the work of Karen Lynch, whose excellent research shines forth from each of her introductory essays, and patrick eyres, who performs his usual mindbroadening task of setting these places in their historical and political context.
the New Arcadians have been teaching us pleasantly provocative lessons for many years now and this superb publication is no exception. merely to have persuaded the various owners to agree to participate in the exercise is a triumph in itself.
the landscape gardener’s mellifluous, deferential and sometimes chummy prose is guaranteed to raise a thoughtful smile. there are moments—such as the two figures silhouetted by moonlight on the sea shore at mulgrave Castle—when he tugs gently at the heartstrings.
Now, we can judge his proposals for ourselves and, in some cases, walk the sites with his voice in our minds. Arise, mr repton, and receive your due meed of applause. Steven Desmond An exhibition celebrating Humphry Repton (1752–1818) and his Red Books, ‘Repton Revealed: The Art of Landscape Gardening’, is at the Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1, until February 3, 2019 (020–7401 8865 www.garden museum.org.uk)