Oxfordshire garden

The main part of this garden dates from the mid-eighteenth century. It comprises a symmetrical arrangement of forecourt, house and garden with flanking prospect pavilions and a sunken walled garden. Working with the client, we removed much of the site’s more recent accretions to reveal the startling purity of the original composition.

The ‘gardened’ part of the site was contained to the walled enclosure, planted with flowers, fruit and vegetables, while the landscape beyond was made more wild and ecologically diverse. The resulting ensemble has a unique drama of contrast, between the gilded quality of the enclosure and the expansive naturalism of the surrounding landscape.