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 Capability
Brown is without doubt, the most famous
of English landscape designers. Lancelot Brown
was born in Northumberland and served an apprenticeship with Sir William
Lorraine. Lancelot Brown moved to Buckinghamshire in 1739 and was employed by
Lord Cobham at Stowe in 1741. This gave Brown the opportunity of working
with William Kent and John Vanbrugh.
He later practiced as an
architect in his own right. On some occasions Lancelot Brown designed both the
house and its park. In 1764 Brown was appointed Master Gardener at Hampton
Court. His practice expanded rapidly and he was often away on coach tours. Many
examples of his work are open to the public. Many others are well maintained as
golf courses. Lancelot Brown's nickname 'Capability' came from his fondness for
speaking about a country estate having a great 'capability' for improvement.
Lancelot Brown's popularity reached a peak at the time of his death. It then
fell into decline, as explained in our online history of English Garden Design
since 1650. Lancelot Brown's reputation reached its nadir in the 1880s. It then
began to recover and by 1980 he was being recognised as a genius of English
garden design. Lancelot Brown described himself as a 'place-maker', not a
'landscape gardener'. It was the nineteenth century which saw 'landscape
gardening' become a trade name.
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