Humphry Repton and the Regency garden

Humphry Repton (1752–1818) ambitiously styled himself as Capability Brown’s successor: the century’s next great improver of landed property. Developing a new aesthetic, which he termed ‘Ornamental Gardening’, his landscapes were laced with flowers and crammed with exotic features. Immortalized in Jane Austen’s novel Mansfield Park, Repton turned his hand to everything from ghoulish garden mausoleums to George IV’s seaside palace, Brighton Pavilion. His famous Red Books – illustrated to help his clients visualize the potential of their properties – did much to encourage an appreciation of landscape aesthetics during the Regency period. This course will trace his career from its picturesque beginnings to the progressive Gardenesque style, which both made his name and changed England’s relationship with nature forever.

Laura Mayer is an independent lecturer and researcher. She holds an MA in Garden History and a PhD on eighteenth-century architecture and landscape design.  Laura has worked on conservation projects for the National Trust, taught on academic courses and led groups around some of England’s most famous estates, including Highclere Castle, the setting for Downton Abbey.  She has also published extensively, most notably on Capability Brown and Humphry Repton.