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Capability Brown

Landscape designer Capability Brown worked on 250 sites across England and Wales and left a gardening legacy that continues to shape our response to nature and the countryside.

Capability Brown, born 300 years ago this year, changed the landscape of Georgian England.

John Wilson visits Chatsworth House in Derbyshire where the Duke of Devonshire describes what it's like to live in a Brown design and Head Gardener Steve Porter explains how Brown shaped the estate.

At the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library Fiona Davison shows John Capability Brown's original accounts book, and Ceryl Evans, Director of the Capability Brown Festival, paints a picture of his background and influences.

Garden designer Dan Pearson discusses Capability Brown's influence on him, and his impact on our appreciation of the English landscape.

Performance poets Joe Cook and Aliya Denton share their poems inspired by Capability Brown, and Anisa Haghdadi from Beatfreeks explains how she's working with Warwick Castle to engage young people from diverse backgrounds with Brown's work and explore the socio-economic context of it.

The Duchess of Rutland and her Estate Manager Phil Burtt describe the work they're been doing at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire to reinstate Capability Brown's long lost plans for the landscape there.

Available now

30 minutes

Portrait of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, c.1770-75

Portrait of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, c.1770-75

The Capability Brown Festival celebrates the 300th anniversary of the birth of England's greatest landscape architect. .   

© Portrait of Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, c.1770-75, Richard Cosway (1742-1821)/Private Collection/Bridgeman Images.

Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House

John Wilson in the Rock Garden, Chatsworth House

RHS Lindley Library

RHS Lindley Library

John Wilson with Capability Brown's accounts book at RHS Lindley Library.

 


 

Beatfreeks

Beatfreeks

'Beatfreeks' Joe Cook and Aaliyah Denton wrote poems about Capability Brown.   Learn more about the Beatfreeks here

 

Dan Pearson

Dan Pearson
Garden designer Dan Pearson talks about the influence Capability Brown has had on him.


Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

The grounds at Warwick Castle are one of Capability Brown's earliest commissions. Throughout the summer young artists from diverse backgrounds will be exploring the socio-economic context of Brown's work and producing artworks and poems reflecting their response to it.

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter John Wilson
Interviewed Guest Peregrine Cavendish
Interviewed Guest Steve Porter
Interviewed Guest Fiona Davison
Interviewed Guest Ceryl Evans
Interviewed Guest Dan Pearson
Interviewed Guest Joe Cook
Interviewed Guest Aliya Denton
Interviewed Guest Anisa Haghdadi
Interviewed Guest Emma Manners
Interviewed Guest Phil Burtt
Producer Dixi Stewart

Broadcast

  • Mon 2 May 2016 19:15

BBC Arts Digital

BBC Arts Digital

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Inspire

Inspire

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