Formalism in the Victorian garden.

This study attempts to consider changing attitudes to formalism in the English garden during the Victorian period. It begins with the decades dominated by Loudon and concludes with what might be termed the triumph of formalism in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The area chosen as a case study is the county of Derbyshire and its periphery, which contains such gardens of monumental and seminal importance as Chatsworth, Haddon Hall and Trentham. By looking at relevant publications and by visiting and recording surviving and almost vanished gardens, this thesis demonstrates how the Victorians resolved the problem of the co-existence of 'Art' and 'Nature' in the design of the formal garden and its relationship to the house. The prolonged debate about formalism and its varying interpretations, is explored both in terms of writing on the subject and practical design schemes.The Victorian period is usually seen as one of revivalism and eclecticism in terms of its architecture - this is equally true of the design of gardens. The importance attached to the romantic and historical associations of gardens is exemplified in their restoration and imitation.