Historic Gardens of Gloucestershire

Book excerpt: Despite the size of the county, stretching from the Cotswolds, through the Vale of Gloucester to the Forest of Dean, and the richness and variety of its parks and gardens, this is the first full history of the gardens of Gloucestershire. Timothy Mowl describes the creation of designed landscapes and gardens in Gloucestershire from medieval times to the present day, taking in the formal gardens of the late seventeenth century; Georgian Arcadia; the Gardenesque of the Regency; Victorian Arboreta; the Arts & Crafts garden and twentieth-century gardens. Throughout the emphasis equally on designers and patrons, aesthetics and practicalities. As the reader will discover, the county is particularly rich in Georgian, and good modern, gardens. But with such well-known delights as Thornbury Castle, Badminton, Sezincote, Batsford Park, Westonbirt, Hidcote and Highfield, the visitor is spoilt for choice which is one reason why the full annotated gazetteer is so helpful.