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Chatsworth
Life Size Bronze Statue of Capability Brown ***** rated
by Laury Dizengremel
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, described by Horace Walpole as ‘Lady Nature’s Second Husband,’ created landscapes on an immense scale that have endured for over 250 years. Over 170 of his greatest gardens survive, and his imitators created many thousands more transforming our idea of the English countryside. The images that he created are as deeply embedded in English culture as the paintings of JMW Turner or the poetry of Wordsworth.
The national commemorative statue, the first ever statue of England’s greatest 18th century landscape gardener, was unveiled on the Riverside Walk in Hammersmith on 24th May 2017 - the adjacent video recalls the day perfectly.
It was sculpted by the talented and internationally known sculptor, Laury Dizengremel, with advice and input from John Phibbs, the leading Brown historian. Cast at the foundry used by Ai Wei-Wei in Chengdu, it was shipped from China, and displayed at Brown’s famous landscape at Trentham, Staffordshire before moving to Hammersmith.
The Society supported the project through a donation and the work of former committee member Richard Jackson. The bronze Capability stands as a permanent legacy celebrating the 300th year of his birth and the time he lived in Hammersmith.
History and Development
Richard Jackson, Project Leader, writes:
As a long-standing Hammersmith resident, I was surprised to discover Capability Brown had lived there, by the Thames, for thirteen years. Very few local people knew of this, and the forthcoming tercentenary of his birth in 2016 was fast approaching. Somehow this event could not pass by without it being commemorated.
With support from John Phibbs, the eminent Brown historian, and Gilly Drummond, the Chairman of the Capability Brown 300 Festival, the project proved to be a roller coaster with various sites put forward and dismissed by local objectors.
We built up a small, determined and passionate team consisting of myself, Rosemary Pettit (a fellow enthusiast with wonderful local knowledge and formidable skills) and the talented internationally known sculptor, Laury Dizengremel. Rosemary and I garnered the support of the Hammersmith Society for the project. For over 50 years, this non-profit, local amenity society has tirelessly campaigned for the preservation and improvement of the built environment of Hammersmith.
The Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, Cllr. Stephen Cowan, was an enthusiastic supporter of the statue project and it was to him we turned on several occasions to free us from the inevitable planning logjams. A riverside site received planning approval from the council in December 2016.
During late 2016 and early 2017, sufficient funds were raised from generous private donors, charities, and corporate benefactors to make the statue a reality. By late May 2017 everything was ready, and the statue was unveiled by Gilly Drummond OBE DL and the Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham, Cllr. Mike Cartwright in front of a large crowd of local residents and Brown supporters.
In 1751 ‘Capability’ Brown moved to Hammersmith Mall beside the Thames with his wife, Bridget and their young family. Here he stayed for 13 years until being appointed Royal Gardener by George III with a grace and favour house at Hampton Court Palace. Hammersmith proved to be an ideal choice, with easy access to his clients’ London homes, the large tree nurseries at Brompton, and the local pool of skilled labour whose services he could draw upon.
In the same year that Brown moved to Hammersmith he received a commission for his first major project, Croome Court in Worcestershire, for the Earl of Coventry. This was the opportunity for him to set up as a landscape gardener in his own right, after establishing his reputation as head gardener at Stowe with Lord Cobham. He later described Croome Court as his ‘first and favourite child’.
The next thirteen years saw Brown receive many of his greatest commissions:
Petworth (1751), Burghley (1754), Syon (1754), Longleat (1757), Wrest Park (1758), Alnwick (1760), Chatsworth (1760), Castle Ashby (1761), Bowood (1761), Temple Newsum (1762), Blenheim (1763), Audley End (1763).
Less well known are his 27 London gardens, nearly all of which have been either built over (such as the Peterborough Estate in Fulham), or substantially altered (Kew). Close to London, Syon Park is the best preserved of his landscapes.
Brown died in 1783 on his way home from dinner with Lord Coventry at his London home. Coventry paid the following tribute to Capability Brown for his work at Croome Court: ‘By the powers of his inimitable and creative genius (he) formed this garden scene out of a morass.’
The house in which Brown lived beside the Thames has long since been demolished.
Upriver from the statue
The river is widely believed to have been a source of inspiration for Capability Brown. The views over the broad sinuous sweep of the Thames, to the woods behind the Barnes towpath and the effect of the ever-changing skies on the moods of the river bore striking similarities to many of his landscapes.
With the completion of the riverside walk between the statue site and the iconic Hammersmith Bridge, residents and visitors are able to enjoy uninterrupted access to all the river from Chiswick to Fulham. The statue will become a significant point of historical and cultural interest.
Downriver from the statue
The unveiling news story can be found here
(Click on images for full-sized versions, then scroll through the set)
❖ OUR GRATEFUL THANKS ❖
CHARITABLE AND CORPORATE BENEFACTORS
Benham Reeves Residential Chivas Brothers Pernod-Ricard Collado Collins Conde Nast Inc. Eastern & Oriental PLC. Fullers Brewery PLC. Hammersmith BID Leapfrog Marketing Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands Novotel - London West St.George PLC. Stanhope PLC. The Aylesford Family Charitable Trust The Drummonds of Cadland The Egremont Charitable Trust The River Cafe Ltd. The Rowney Trust
AMERICAN BENEFACTORS
The Caulfield Family Michele Caneen for Nina McGuire Michele and Dave Caywood Ian Krieger Richard Mabe Kelly and Mike Palmer Kathryn and David Torres Larry Wallace David Wilson and Michael Peterman
UK BENEFACTORS
Ewan Law Kevin and Barbara Lawry Jackie Loveless Clair McCarthy Miles Mackay and Arleta Zydek Rory Morgan Andrew Pendleton Rosemary Pettit Rosemary and Ken Pike Jason Pochin Alice and Ralph Poole Bernd and Marlena Radaschitz Sarah Sparks Hew Stevenson Patrick Trueman Sir Samuel Whitbread KCVO Helen White The Viscount Windsor The Wilkens Family
Our grateful thanks to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham for their vision and efforts on our behalf, and to the many people who have helped and advised us.
News Topics
Our Diary
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Public exhibition: Cycle underpass Wood Lane - North Kensington
📅 Tue 17th Sep | 18:00 - 20:00
🚩 UNDR, 3 Thorpe Close, London W10 5XL (map)Fulfilment of a longstanding S106 commitment by Imperial for an underpass under the West London Line. See https://www.imperial.ac.uk/white-city-campus/about-us/campus-updates/east-west-link-consultation
More History
50 Special Places: Images of Hammersmith
50 Years of the Hammersmith Society: An Edited Review
Notable Achievements
The Capability Brown Statue
The Hammersmith Study Group 1969-70
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