The Gardens of Elizabethan England
Most pleasure gardens of the late 16th century have vanished, yet visual and literary accounts provide vivid evidence of their highly decorative design and appearance. In addition to being a perfect complement to the great houses they surrounded, gardens were also the stage on which political, intellectual and romantic dramas were enacted daily. This lecture considers the gardens of Elizabethan England, using contemporary drawings, maps and garden books as illustrations of their size and complexity. Images of modern gardens are also used to show the great interest today in many of the features of these early Renaissance gardens: topiary, herb and knot gardens and formal planting.