Capability’s gardens get heritage protection

LANDSCAPES created by 18th century garden designer Capability Brown are being protected to mark 300 years since his birth.

Stoke Place in Buckinghamshire and Peper Harow Park in Surrey are being added to the National Heritage List for England at Grade II, while seven other sites including his home are given greater protection or updated entries on the list.

Government heritage agency Historic England is also launching an online map showing a bird’s eye view of some of Capability Brown’s best landscapes.

Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, who gained his nickname because he would tell clients their estates had great ‘capability’ for improvements to the landscape, transformed the look of 18th century country house gardens.

He removed formal planting in favour of a ‘natural’ landscape, moving hills, draining marshland to create lakes and even moving

‘Still revered 300 years on’

an entire village out of sight to improve the view.

In addition to the new listings, Brown’s home Wilderness House at Hampton Court Palace has been upgraded to Grade II* to reflect his time as master gardener to George III.

The landscape of Wotton Underwood, Buckinghamshire, which is undergoing restoration, has been upgraded to Grade I.

Listings for the church where Brown is buried, St Peter and St Paul, Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, and the walled garden at Charlton Park, Wiltshire are among those to be updated.

Heritage minister Tracey Crouch said: ‘Capability Brown was a pioneer in landscape design, whose stunning work is still revered 300 years on at beautiful locations throughout the country.’

The Capability Brown Festival is marking the anniversary of his birth in 1716 with events, projects and exhibitions across the UK.