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Manuscript Journals of Travel in England in the Eighteenth Century: Can they reshape and add to our understanding of garden history?

Citation: Cousins, Michael (2022) Manuscript Journals of Travel in England in the Eighteenth Century: Can they reshape and add to our understanding of garden history? Doctoral thesis, Institute of Historical Research.

31.10.24 Michael Cousins Thesis Vols 1 and 2.pdf

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Garden history is a multi-disciplinary subject. It encompasses art, architecture, philosophy, politics, social history, literature, religion, botany, horticulture, agriculture, archaeology and science; and thus can be open to many varied approaches. It is in the eighteenth century, the period which concerns this thesis, that all these disciplines are present to some degree (which is not so evidently the case with other periods) and investigations that reveal new knowledge and fresh understandings are particularly fruitful given such possibilities. What follows demonstrates new findings that, in their differing ways, fit into this broad framework, taking a founding step to resolve the lack of research into travel accounts with respect to their contribution to garden history. The review of known studies within this field confirms the deficit of application of this source material to our knowledge base. Fundamental for this research was the creation of a database to provide a benchmark tool to conduct analysis – facilitating a data-driven examination of parks and gardens visited and chronological mapping of stylistic change as recorded by visitors. The magnitude of source material available shaped the focus of this research: geographically centred on England and concentrating on made parks and gardens (i.e. those shaped by man). Travel narratives also provide an important social dialogue, and the contextual background underpinned the ability to make visits and how fashionable influences became important when deciding what to see. Several themes surface that have received little study before, including the symbiotic relationship between owner/visitor (evolving into an early commercialism); and operational aspects of garden design, creation and maintenance. The thesis concludes with two case studies that exemplify the contribution of personal descriptions, permitting 1) historical development of an otherwise poorly-documented site to be established; and, 2) reconsideration of the timeline of a particular garden fashion or movement.

Creators: Cousins, Michael and
Subjects: History
Keywords: database, travel journal, travel diary, letters, manuscript, garden history, political gardens, philosophy in gardens, eighteenth century, publications and writers, pattern-books, country house guides, engravings, prints, antiquity and authenticity, imitation/copying, models, measuring/dimensions/size, travel growth, demographics, writing style, occupations, experience / emotions, politics, religion, industry & manufacturing, commerce, tourism, hospitality, inns/lodging houses, travel, geography, roads, routes, turnpikes, modes of transport, money, maintenance/upkeep, cost/expenses, patronage and philanthropy, owners, gratuities/tips, publications and writers, pattern-books, country house guides, engravings, prints, , alcove, arbour, arcade, avenue, basin, belvedere, border, bowling green, canal, cascade, chinese buildings, chinoiserie, classical buildings, clump, cold bath, colonnade, dairy, eyecatcher, gothic, gothick, greenhouse, grotto, grove, ha-ha, hermitage, inscriptions, jet d’eau, kiosk, kitchen garden, lodge, menagerie, observatory, mount, obelisk, orangery, pagoda, palladian bridge, parterre, pavilion, pillar, plantation, pyramid, rockwork, rococo, ruins, sham bridge, shellwork, stables, summerhouse, temple, terrace, rotunda, serpentine, sham castle, statue, tower, triumphal arch, turkish tent, umbrello, walks, waterworks, wilderness, walks, sublime, picturesque, prospect, vista, viewpoint, sharawadgi, iconography, style, improvement, landscaping, taste, vogue, fashion, old style, new style, new taste, perception, red book, robert adam, charles bridgeman, lancelot ‘capability’ brown, sir william chambers, john dillman, william emes, james gibbs, robert greening, william kent, james paine, humphry repton, nathaniel richmond, sir john vanbrugh, samuel wyatt, john aislabie, william aislabie, thomas anson, lord clinton, sir andrew fountaine, charles hamilton, henry hoare, george lyttelton, james beeverell, edmund burke, william camden, daniel defoe, william gilpin, thomas gray, joseph heely, william hutchinson, batty langley, thomas martyn, resta patching, thomas pennant, alexander pope, matteo ripa, samuel rudder, 3rd earl of shaftesbury, william shenstone, stephen switzer, william toldervy, thomas west, thomas whately, henry penruddocke wyndham, arthur young, duchess of beaufort, william bray, john byng, mary capel, william cole, thomas clark, sir john cullum, sir matthew decker, mary delany, john dodd, william and thomas drake, thomas evans, sir john evelyn, joseph farrington, richard gough, amabel grey (lady polwarth), marchioness jemima grey, john griffin, francis grose, william hervey, robert johnson, edward knight, john loveday, charles lyttelton, george lyttelton, william manning, jeremiah milles, elizabeth montagu, samuel more, sir roger newdigate, lady sophia newdigate, duchess of northumberland, peter oliver, craven ord, earl of oxford, viscount palmerston, john perceval, charles perry, richard pococke, charles polhill, lady henrietta pomfret, mrs caroline lybbe powys, dorothy richardson, peter shakerley, joseph spence, william stukeley, john swete, timothy thomas, george vertue, horace walpole, john whaley, edward witts, agnetha yorke, philip yorke (lord royston), john adams, joseph bélanger, prince ludwig of bentheim, samuel curwen, princess izabela czartoryska, princess ekaterina dashkova, friedrich wilhelm von erdmannsdorff, thomas jefferson, count frederick kielmansegge, sophie von la roche, philip moritz, sir john parnell, frederik magnus piper, count karl von zinzendorf, amesbury abbey, ansley park, basildon park, belton house, bevis mount, blair atholl, blenheim, blickling hall, boston castle, boughton house, burghley, calke abbey, castle howard, chatsworth, chepstow castle, chirk castle, chiswick, cirencester park, claremont, clevedon court, coombe abbey, croome court, ditchley park, ‘dukeries’, duncombe park, dunkeld house, enmore castle, euston hall, fairford park, fisherwick, fonthill, gobions park, goodwood, great billing, grimsthorpe, hackfall, hackwood park, hagley park, hall barn, harewood house, hawkstone, hestercombe, himley hall, holkham hall, honington park, the hoo, houghton hall, hursbourne priors, kedleston, kew, kings weston, kirtlington, the lakes, the leasowes, little durnford manor house, longleat, margam, the castle (marlborough), mamhead, mereworth castle, moor park, mount edgcumbe, narford hall, north stoneham house, nuneham courtenay, oatlands park, old windsor, painshill, park place, parlington park, the peaks, piercefield, plumpton rocks, portmore park, prior park, raynham hall, richmond gardens, rievaulx terrace, roche abbey, rousham, st giles, sandbeck park, shotover, shugborough, stowe, stourhead, studley park, temple newsam, thame park, thoresby, tintern abbey, trentham, vale crux abbey, valence, virginia water, wallington, walsingham abbey, warmley, wentworth castle (stainborough), wentworth house, wenvoe castle, wilton house, wimpole hall, woburn abbey, woodside house, wotton park, wrest park, wroxton abbey, wynnstay
Divisions: Institute of Historical Research
Collections: Theses and Dissertations
Dates:
  • 31 October 2022 (completed)

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