The Picturesque || Wordsworth and the Gardens of Coleorton Hall

The Garden History Society

Wordsworth and the Gardens of Coleorton HallAuthor(s): Anne AndersonSource: Garden History, Vol. 22, No. 2, The Picturesque (Winter, 1994), pp. 206-217Published by: The Garden History SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1587028 .

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ANNE ANDERSON

WORDSWORTH AND THE GARDENS OF

COLEORTON HALL

The embowering rose, the acia and the pine Will not unwillingly their place resign; If but the Cedar thrive that near them stands, Planted by Beaumont's and by Wordsworth's hands, One wooed the silent Art with studious pains; These groves have heard the Other's pensive strains, Devoted thus, their spirits did unite By interchange of knowledge and delight.

(Lines written by Wordsworth to celebrate the planting of a cedar tree in 80o8, at Coleorton Hall, Leicestershire.)

When Butler-Johnson wrote his article on Sir George Beaumont and Coleorton Hall (Gentleman's Magazine, I905), the winter garden created by William Wordsworth was still 'untouched by the hand of the spoiler'. The inscriptions and monuments, carrying lines composed by the poet, could still be seen in their original locations. In I830 the garden was described as 'a perfect picture, every possible variety of situation being seized upon to exhibit the utmost variety of arrangement'. These picturesque arrangements inspired Constable, who commented on the garden in 1823: '0 dear, this is a lovely place indeed ... such grounds ... such trees ... such distances'. The garden was conceived in picturesque terms, inspired by the landscape paintings that Beaumont collected, his love of poetry, his trips to the Lake District and the ideas of his friends Gilpin, Payne Knight and Price.

Sir George Beaumont is largely remembered as a founder and benefactor of the National Gallery, London. Born in I754, he was educated at Eton, where he studied drawing under Alexander Cozens. Thus Beaumont's interest in landscape painting was stimulated by one of the best exponents of the art. The Revd Charles Davy, Beaumont's tutor, introduced him to the engraver William Wollett and to Thomas Hearne, the latter's apprentice, who was to become one of the leading topographical artists of the day. Wollett specialized in engravings of landscapes, particularly those of Richard Wilson. Before he went up to Oxford Beaumont had 'completely confirmed' his love for paintings and he was already actively engaged in what was to be the focal point of his life, the practice and enjoyment of landscape painting and drawing.

While at Oxford he met Margaret Willes, daughter of John Willes of Astrop, whom he married in 1778. Lady Beaumont shared most of Sir George's enthusiasms, especially

Southampton Institute of Higher Education, East Park Terrance, Southampton so9 4 ww



COLEORTON HALL

his love of poetry and music. She told Coleridge that as a girl before saying her prayers she had tried to think of'a mountain, or a river, or something great, to raise up her soul', a sentiment reflecting the growing romanticism of the day.

It was during the late I770S that Beaumont met Sir Joshua Reynolds. For his entire life Beaumont remained steadfast in his admiration for and loyalty to Reynolds. Twenty years after the death of his hero, Beaumont erected the cenotaph to Reynolds's memory in the grounds of Coleorton.

Beaumont's passion was landscape painting, at which he was himself quite accom- plished. He has been described as 'the best amateur of his time'. His favourite artists included Claude Lorraine, Gaspard Poussin, and Salvator Rosa, but he did not only collect old masters. Beaumont's patronage and support of contemporary artists, painters and poets was renowned. He considered Richard Wilson to be England's finest landscape painter and purchased works by Girtin and Hearne. David Wilkie and Constable were invited to Coleorton, to join the artistic gatherings which often included Wordsworth and Coleridge. Regarding the latter, Sir George was 'one of the first to appreciate the genius of these two men'.

Sir George was not a really wealthy man, which makes his art collection all the more admirable. Beaumont was his own man, he did not use artistic advisors. He displayed good taste, made shrewd purchases and his patronage of contemporary artists showed perception and conviction. It is generally accepted that Beaumont's generous offer of his own paintings to the nation instigated the founding of the national collection.

However, Beaumont's relationship with the art world was not always a happy one. The publication of the Catalogue Raisonne of the Pictures now in Pall Mall in I8I 5 was an attack against the directors of the British Institution, in particular Beaumont and Payne Knight, for their prejudiced view of contemporary art. It was Beaumont's criticism of Turner that provoked this counter-attack against a man who attempted 'to be supreme dictator on Works of Art'. Beaumont's dislike of Turner at first appears surprising but at heart he was a traditionalist. Even Constable recognized that Sir George did not wholly approve of his paintings and Beaumont does not appear to have acquired an example of his work. Yet Beaumont clearly respected Constable's integrity as an artist and both clearly benefited from the friendship.

Beaumont was elected to the Society of Dilettanti in 1784. His fellow members included Uvedale Price and Richard Payne Knight. He already knew Price, whose worldly manners, literary tastes, and passion for landscape gardening would have instantly appealed. Price was to develop a particularly deep affection for Lady Beau- mont. Cranston, the Herefordshire landscape gardener, remarked that he never knew two people who thought so much alike as Price and Beaumont.

Richard Payne Knight was also a collector of old masters and contemporary artists. Knight had just commissioned Hearne to produce a series of watercolours of his estate at Downton. Later Payne Knight served with Beaumont on the 'Committee of Taste'. Charles Gore, another proponent of landscape theory and Thomas Johnes, whose grounds at Hafod were a key example of the Picturesque, were also met through the Dilettanti. The Beaumonts visited both Downton and Foxley, Price's Herefordshire estate, and were fully acquainted with their friends' picturesque theories on gardening and architecture.

Beaumont had inherited the estate at Coleorton, near Ashby de la Zouche, Leicestershire, upon his father's death, but had preferred to use the family home at

207



GARDEN HISTORY 22:2

Dunmow in Essex. In I80o Sir George began to plan a new house at Coleorton, appointing George Dance as his architect and in a letter to William Gilpin explained his reasons: 'I have at present no tolerable house on my estate - the consequence has been that I have not visited it so often as I ought to have done'. Here Beaumont is probably referring to the problems caused by his Leicestershire agent, Joseph Boultbee and his son, who, left unattended, ran Coleorton and its colliery virtually for their own benefit. In I802, after a prolonged lawsuit, Sir George was able to recover some ?I3,ooo, this being only a small part of the amount due to him. The award went some way towards paying for the construction of a new house, the final cost being ? I 5,ooo with an additional ?5,ooo for the furnishings. The new house was to act as 'bait' to future generations so that the estate would never be neglected again.

The house was sited with care to take in the sweeping views of the Charnwood Forest and designed to blend with the countryside rather than to dominate it. Beau- mont's spiritual home was the Lake District with 'its silent mountains'. Although the Leicestershire countryside surrounding his new home at Coleorton could not compete, Beaumont found some comfort in the fact that 'the air, however, is fine and the prospect from the chosen spot splendid in point of richness and extent'.

Indeed for Sir George and his wife it was the garden, overgrown and neglected for over fifty years, more than the house, that was the real challenge. Years of mining had left hideous waste tips and spoil banks, with deserted engine houses marring the prospect. Sir George immediately set about restoring the natural beauty of the estate, planting trees and removing eyesores. Staying at the new Hall (Home) Farm in I803, he invited Price to join him. Sir Uvedale offered to bring Payne Knight with him, but Sir George declined in case his architect felt too overwhelmed! Needing a 'celebrated ground gardener' Price engaged Cranston, his local man, on reasonable terms, sending him to Coleorton fully briefed. Cranston spent ten days staking out planting positions and the nursery garden and began pruning and clearing with the help of six labourers.

The planning and laying out of the gardens reflects the new approach to gardening that had been developing since the I790s, when the stylized landscapes of Capability Brown were rejected by the leaders of the picturesque movement. There was a move away from the classical landscape, with its calm regulated arrangement - carefully balanced groups of trees, a broad open space with clipped grass and the shimmering waters of a lake, all bathed in sunlight. Such landscapes were to evoke a mood of peaceful tranquillity, a pastoral arcadia, which was initially inspired by Virgilian poetry and the paintings of the Roman Campagna by Claude Lorraine, but had become a dull and vapid formula. These scenes were perceived as Beautiful, whereas the Sublime, as formulated by Burke in 1757, was 'pleasurable terror', again largely inspired by the contemplation of nature. Burke's theory was vital to the romantic notions that were forming in the I790s, as it emphasized the 'suggestive quality of art'.

Between the polarities of Burke's Beautiful and Sublime lay the Picturesque, implying worthy of a picture. In pictorial terms the movement was inspired by the paintings of the Dutch landscape artists, Hobbema, Ostade, Rysdael and Everdingen, which were seen as 'variegated'. The eye was to be delighted by interest and diversity in the landscape. The new movement demanded 'varied surfaces' and rough scenery. Uvedale Price maintained 'the two opposite qualities of roughness and of sudden variation, joined to that of irregularity, are the most efficient causes of the picturesque'. In terms of landscape the difference between the Sublime and the Picturesque is largely a

208



matter of degree. Sublimity was sought in the contemplation of majestic mountains, a terrifying precipice, a dark gorge, a torrent, brooding pine forests, and fearful caverns: the unknown and the uncontrollable in nature. The Picturesque presents a less dis- turbing vision: rugged hills, rough terrain, a shady alley, a babbling brook, a cascade and rocky crags and cliffs. Initially these motifs were to captivate the eye but they soon developed associative qualities, so that the contemplation of the picturesque was to induce pleasurable sensations, encouraging pleasant thoughts and rekindling old memories.

All this was merely hinted at in Richard Payne Knight's The Landscape, a Didactic Poem, published in I794. When he published An Analytical Inquiry into the Principles of Taste eleven years later, he had formulated a more precise theory. The imagination was to be stimulated by associations: 'To a mind richly stored, almost every object of nature or art... either excites fresh trains and combinations of ideas, or vivifies and strengthens those which existed before: so that recollection enhances enjoyment and enjoyment brightens recollection'. The new landscape park was to be 'the garden of sensibility'. Above all, it was the association of poetry and painting with nature which was to stimulate the intellect and the imagination. In terms of human response it could be said that the Sublime was cathartic, while the Picturesque was pleasantly reflective and evocative. In their common desire to illicit a response, by rendering nature suggestive, the Picturesque was linked with the Romantic; their ambiguous relationship is illustrated by the number of topographical works that juxtapose the concepts in their titles, such as Loutherbourg's Romantic and Picturesque Scenery of England and Wales (I805).

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Ftow Bonfw J Garden as illustrated in w Wafl the Mem'orials of Coleorton

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Garden as illustrated in

FL"N 0F THE WINTER GARDEN. (887)

COLEORTON HALL 209



GARDEN HISTORY 22:2

The gardens at Coleorton were conceived in these literary and pictorial terms. Developing over a period of some fifteen years the garden was composed of variegated sections. The emphasis was on woodland, with colourful underplanting, broken by glades, walks and alleys. Prospects and vistas were still important, but enclosed, secluded areas were equally valued. The garden developed into three distinctive areas - the dell which became the Winter Garden, created by the poet William Wordsworth, Lady Beaumont's flower garden and the Grove and its associated monuments. The Winter Garden was the first to be designed and constructed (Figure I).

In the winter of I806 Sir George offered Wordsworth and his large family, who were seeking a new home, the use of the Home Farm at Coleorton. During the Beaumonts' absence, Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, who was a close friend of Lady Beaumont, kept them informed on the progress of the house and the planting of its gardens. In November I806 Wordsworth wrote to Sir George providing a list of trees he would recommend for planting. Wordsworth mentions a proposed winter garden, recom- mending a 'pleasing paper in the Spectator upon this subject' (7th Vol. no. 477, 1712). Lady Beaumont followed this advice, for in a letter, dated December I806, we learn of her request to Wordsworth to plan and create such a garden. The article in question was by Joseph Addison, proposing a garden planted exclusively with evergreens, a sheltered 'winter garden' in which to walk during the bleakest months of the year: 'a Spot of Ground which is covered with Trees that smile amidst all the Rigours of winter and give us a View of the most gay Season in the Midst of that which is the most dead and melancholy'.

Wordsworth's imagination was captured by the notion of a winter garden. He describes his reply to Lady Beaumont, which contained a full description of the garden, as the longest letter he has ever written. This garden was to fulfil Payne Knight's ideal, that the imagination was to be stimulated by reshaping nature. Wordsworth conceived the garden as a 'spot where winter cannot touch, which should present no image of chillness, decay or desolation, when the face of Nature everywhere else is cold, decayed and desolate'. Remote and retired, the 'feeling' of the place was to induce a poetic mood, a place to stir the memory and encourage reflective thought. For Wordsworth, the spirit of the place was encapsulated by Thomson's 'Ode on Solitude', from which he quotes:

Oh! let me pierce thy secret Cell And in thy deep recesses dwell Perhaps from Norwood's oak-clad hill When meditation has her fill, I just may cast my careless eyes Where London's spiry turrets rise, Think of its crimes, its cares, its pain Then shield me in the woods again.

Wordsworth advises that in the laying out and selection of plants for the winter garden the 'sentiment of the place' should never be forgotten, that all deciduous trees be excluded, in order to create a 'spot were winter cannot touch'. The cult of sensibility developed in the I790s, implying the 'power of a work of art to touch the heart' and bringing a 'sympathetic tear' to the eye indicated the highest artistic achievement. In the winter garden both literary and pictorial associations were to 'move' the spectator.

The site chosen was an old quarry close to the house, partly bounded by the southern retaining wall of Dance's newly formed terrace. The wall was to be covered with

210



COLEORTON HALL

ivy and pyracanthus, for its berries, with the flower borders below planted with spring and autumn flowering bulbs. The garden was to be surrounded by a line of evergreen shrubs intermingled with cypress, with behind a row of 'majestic' firs, the intention being to give the greatest appearance of depth, shelter, and seclusion possible. All deciduous trees and plants were to be excluded. Juniper, box, and holly, Wordsworth's favourite, were to be used instead, with trailing plants such as ivy and periwinkle. Spring flowers and shrubs that blossom early, snowdrops, crocuses, hepaticas, jonquils, hyacinths, polyanthuses, auriculas, and mezereons, were to fill the borders. In the autumn these were to be succeeded by michaelmas daisies, winter cherries, china-asters, and christmas roses. One section was to be a glade with no borders or garden flowers but wild flowers scattered everywhere.

The picturesque effects that Wordsworth proposed included retaining two old ruinous cottages, one of which was to be repaired for the sole purpose of providing support for a grove of ivy (one was also intended to be mistaken for an old abbey), a bower paved with different coloured pebbles, chiefly white to contrast with the greenery, water trickling around the roots of an old wych elm, and a basin of water inhabited by two gold or silver fish which were to be the 'genii' of the place. Wordsworth even proposed a fountain, but Coleridge doubted the suitability of this and the idea was to be abandoned. Coleridge also suggested 'an intermingling of birch trees somewhere, on account of the richness of the colour of the naked twigs in winter'.

Wordsworth took an active part in the planting of the garden. As Dorothy informed Lady Beaumont, he 'visits the workmen generally twice in the day and one of us accompanies him and when it is pleasant we afterwards walk in the grounds'. Wordsworth's creation of the winter garden brought him into contact with the head gardener, Mr Craig, a rather dour Scotsman who obviously did not relish interference from an enthusiastic amateur. Fortunately Craig's attention was diverted to other parts of the garden. Wordsworth rather diplomatically praised Craig's new walk and his collection of trees, shrubs and flowers before suggesting a visit by the Beaumonts to 'some large nursery garden in the neighbourhood of London'. One has some sympathy for the head gardener.

After spending the summer months of I807 in the Lake District, with the Beaumonts, Wordsworth and his family returned to Coleorton with their friend, Sir Walter Scott. It is reputed that Scott planned the tournament scenes of Ivanhoe while sitting in a little stone arbour in Wordsworth's new winter garden.

The two cottages were eventually restored with picturesque thatch, rather than the local slate. Lady Beaumont was certainly pleased with the poet's achievement, referring to his garden as 'a monument to his taste for the picturesque'. However, the garden constantly threatened to degenerate into a jungle and, on Price's advice that it was kind to be cruel, she was later persuaded to carry out some 'ferocious surgery'. Humphry Repton could have been describing Wordsworth's garden in his defence against the attacks of Payne Knight and Price: 'While mouldering abbeys and the antiquated cottage with its chimney smothered in ivy may be eminently appealing to the painter, in whatever relates to man, propriety and convenience are not less objects of good taste than picturesque effects'.

Work on the house was delayed by the resumption of war and building did not start until August 1804. It was not until August 80o8, 'almost before the paint was dry', that the Beaumonts were able to return and take possession of their new house. The final plan

2II



GARDEN HISTORY 22:2

was for a modest version of the gothic castle, of the type built by Knight at Downton. The model for Coleorton was nearby Donington Hall. Lady Beaumont was now in her element; indeed she became such an ardent gardener that her husband feared 'she would root herself'. As Price's pupil, she received notes on the construction of pools (one of the major disadvantages of Coleorton was its lack of water), the best variety of tree, underplanting and pruning. Sir George, 'once such a great uncorker of bottles', was advised to cork the poor damaged wych elm, presumably the same tree which featured in Wordsworth's winter garden. Price particularly cherished the prospect towards Bardon Hill, 'the Olympus of Leicestershire' as it was known, which later featured in many of Beaumont's paintings. This lay approximately east of the main rooms of the house, in front of which a terrace was created and supported by a large retaining wall. At the lower end of the terrace, beyond new lawns, Lady Beaumont was to create her flower garden.

A plan of this garden was included in an auction sale held by Taylor Scott of Ashby in I991, when it realized ?I700 (Figure 2). The drawing bore the signature of Lady Margaret Beaumont and James Cruickshank. The vendor had purchased the work in the I950s, from a sale of the Beaumont family possessions. The layout of the flower garden was formal, with a regular chequerboard arrangement of flowerbeds interspersed by pathways. It was planted with an assortment of flowers, intermingled with evergreen trees. It may have been this garden that inspired Wordsworth to compose A flower garden, during his visit to Coleorton in 1824. The inclusion of such a garden at Coleorton, perhaps as early as 1808-o9, illustrates the changing attitudes towards gardening at this time. Repton's remark that 'Gardens are works of art rather than nature', indicates that the era of the 'natural' landscape park was over. Gardens were now to be works of the imagination and their appearance was to reflect the hand of man. A mixture of formal and informal areas within a garden became very popular in the nineteenth century, with notable examples created at Elvaston Castle, Derbyshire and Trentham Hall, Staffordshire.

After a long interval, Wordsworth and Dorothy returned to Coleorton in July I8Io. Upon leaving, Sir George took the opportunity of accompanying Wordsworth on his journey to Wales. During three days they visited two estates, William Shenstone's The Leasowes and Lord Lyttelton's Hagley. At Hagley both men were much taken by a temple dedicated to the poet James Thomson, whose 'Ode on Solitude' had inspired the winter garden and an urn to Alexander Pope. It was a popular fashion of the day to enrich one's garden with monuments inscribed to the memory of a heart-felt friendship or cherished ancester. Such reminders of the past are typical of the associative character of the romantic garden. The examples at Hagley undoubtedly inspired the idea of similarly improving the grounds at Coleorton.

Wordsworth was requested to supply the lines which were to be inscribed on the monuments planned for the garden: a seat in a grove of trees in memory of Sir Francis Beaumont and an urn dedicated to Reynolds at the end of a newly planted avenue of lime trees. Even the winter garden was to be similarly enriched, with a 'circular Gothic structure' that was to carry Wordsworth's first sonnet addressed to Lady Beaumont.

Sir George was particularly proud of his literary ancestor, Francis Beaumont, who he described as 'the ornament of my pedigree'. The Elizabethan poet had lived at nearby Grace Dieu. The ruins of this monastic house had been a favourite haunt of Wordsworth and Dorothy during their days at the Home Farm, although her letters show that Dorothy was enthralled by the rocks and the water, rather than the ruins themselves.

212



COLEORTON HALL 213

Figure 2. Plan of Lady Beaumont's flower garden

Figure 3. View of the flower garden, present day

Figure 4. Memorial to Francis Beaumont, the Elizabethan poet

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GARDEN HISTORY 22:2

This homage to Francis Beaumont largely survives, although the trees have now almost engulfed it (Figure 4). Composed of a processional way, whose entrance is marked by a flight of steps flanked by busts of Shakespeare and Milton, the walk terminates with a monumental wall. The busts are raised up on high plinths, with 'tombs' in front, and obviously denote England's rich literary tradition, to which Sir Francis contributed. The terminal wall has a raised flagged area in front, presumably to contain the seat. A central niche still bears a large commemorative plaque on which are inscribed Wordsworth's immortal lines:

Beneath yon eastern ridge, the craggy bound, Rugged and high of Charnwood's forest ground, Stand yet, but, hidden from view, The ivied ruins of forlorn Grace Dieu.

These verses were composed in I8I I, in the same year as the lines for the cenotaph, or urn as Wordsworth called it, which was dedicated to the memory of Sir George's most revered hero, Sir Joshua Reynolds: 'Ye Lime-trees, ranged before this hallowed Urn . .'. On 30 October I812 the Beaumonts, with Joseph Farington and William Owen in

attendance, laid the first stone of the monument with Lady Beaumont declaring, 'May nothing but Time destroy this Monument'. Still in its original position, at the end of a tree-lined walk, this simple tomb-like monument was inscribed with Wordsworth's lines conveying what Beaumont and 'England lost when Reynolds died'. Situated at the other end of the walk, which was planted with limes, are two busts; one of Raphael and the other of Michelangelo (Figure 5). Reynolds revered Michelangelo above all other artists. His name had been on Reynolds's lips as he left Somerset House on the conclusion of his final Discourse. With the addition of Raphael, perhaps the intention was to suggest a pedigree for British art: a tribute to Reynolds and all past art.

Beaumont chose to commemorate Richard Wilson, the 'greatest English landscape painter', with a massive boulder, which required twenty-three horses to move into position. Massive rocks often feature prominently in the foreground of Wilson's landscapes, for example the Distant View of Maecenas's Villa, which Beaumont owned and eventually left to the National Gallery. The stone itself, now completely covered by a large cedar tree, bears the simple inscription: 'Brought here 6 Jan I8I8', which in its understatement seems an appropriate tribute to the artist (Figure 6). Fittingly, Chantry's bust of Wordsworth was the last tribute to be added to the garden.

Figure 5. The cenotaph to Reynolds, with Figure 6 The stone dedicated to Richard the busts of Michelangelo and Raphael Wilson

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When the house was completed in 80o8, the Beaumonts began using Coleorton for their famous artistic gatherings. Evidently Wordsworth's poetry was read aloud most evenings, interspersed with readings from Coleridge. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey, Lawrence, David Wilkie, Haydon, Scott, and John Gibson were all regular visitors. In October 1823 Constable was invited to join such a gathering. Upon his arrival he wrote to Maria, 'in a room full of Claudes... real Claudes and Wilsons and Poussins &c almost at the summit of my earthly ambitions'. The painter spent most of his time with Sir George in the painting room copying two Claudes. Despite the occasional disagreement on the subject of landscape painting, Constable was won over by the Beaumont's generosity.

On 28 October, shortly before returning home, Constable sketched in the grounds, drawing A Stone dedicated to Richard Wilson in the Grove at Coleorton Hall (Figure 7) and the Cenotaph to Sir Joshua Reynolds in the Grounds of Coleorton Hall (Figure 8). Like Sir George, Constable felt indebted to Reynolds, as the founder of the British School, and this is revealed in his lectures of the I83os. Beaumont's act of homage would have naturally appealed to Constable. Writing from Coleorton, he recorded his discovery in a letter to Fisher: 'In the dark recesses of these gardens and at the end of the walks, I saw an urn -& bust of Sir Joshua Reynolds-& under it some beautiful verses, by Wordsworth' (JCC VI, I43). Some years later Constable returned to this drawing of the cenotaph and used it as the basis of a painting which was finally exhibited in 1836.

In the later painting considerable alterations were made to the trees and a stag introduced, which greatly ennobles the monument. Constable 'moved' the busts of Michelangelo and Raphael to new positions, framing the cenotaph. As Constable's painting was to be a tribute to both Reynolds and Beaumont, this artistic licence is understandable. When he found that he could not complete both The Cenotaph and Arundel Mill and Castle in time for the I836 exhibition, to be held for the last time in the Academy's old premises at Somerset House, Constable submitted the former, telling George Constable, 'I preferred to see Sir Joshua Reynolds' name and Sir George Beaumont's once more in the catalogue, for the last time in the old house' (JCC v, 32). A fittingly romantic tribute to Sir George and the gardens of Coleorton.

In the Victorian period the gardens of Coleorton remained a famous local beauty- spot. Montgomery Henderson, the head gardener, was a renowned horticulturalist. Thomas Cook's second excursion from Leicester, on the Leicester to Burton railway, stopped at Coleorton to take in the sights. During the early years of the twentieth century the Hall was leased to the Abel-Smith family. At this time the layout of the flower garden was altered and it was replanted as a rose garden. This garden was still extant in 1947, when the British Coal Board took over the estate.

Despite the changes, time has not completely destroyed the gardens of Coleorton. Indeed in its present romantically dilapidated state once can empathise completely with the sentiments that inspired the garden: a fitting tribute to the Beaumonts, Wordsworth, Constable, and the Picturesque.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

GREAVES, M. Regency Patron: Sir George Beaumont OWEN, F. and BROWN, D. Collector of Genius: a (London, 1966). life of Sir George Beaumont (1988). KNIGHT, W. Memorials of Coleorton (I887). JOHNSON, H. B. 'Sir George Beaumont and Please note that the Gardens of Coleorton Hall are Coleorton Hall', Gentleman's Magazine (I905). not open to the public.

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The Picturesque || Wordsworth and the Gardens of Coleorton Hall