The Revised English Landscape Garden Style at Middleton Hall

Hanbury Barclay was the tenant of Middleton Hall from 1872 to 1880. During his brief tenancy he made a number of alterations to the grounds of Middleton Hall, many of which are still visible today. Unfortunately, we have no precise date for when he made these alterations and so Middleton Hall Trust has given them the rough date of about 1875. Therefore, to mark the “rough” 150th anniversary, in 2025 we are writing a series of posts to highlight his alterations.

Very rarely throughout its history has Middleton Hall appeared to have had a very clear garden design that fitted a specific style. However, during Hanbury’s time it did. This was the Revised English Landscape Garden Style. It is uncertain whether Hanbury was the first tenant to embrace this Style at Middleton Hall, but he certainly maintained and developed it.

The Revised English Landscape Garden Style developed in the 1840s and was an evolution of the English Landscape Garden Style. In the Revised Style, the favouring of an idealised natural appearance remained along with the rejection of the formality of the earlier French and Dutch Garden Styles. However, there were differences: gardens tended to be located much closer to the main house; irregularly planted specimen trees were added for botanical curiosity; sweeping gravelled walks were added; shrubberies became a key feature; and there were planted flower beds. The confirmed presence of all of these features, or at least the suggestion that they may have been present only occurred at Middleton Hall for the first time during Hanbury’s tenancy.

It is noted that the Revised English Landscape Garden Style was influenced by China, not only in terms of the design of their gardens but also their plants. Hanbury’s tenancy is marked by the introduction of a number of specimen trees that were natural to the Orient and many of these trees are still present at Middleton Hall today. They will feature in a series of posts we will do to mark National Tree Week in November.

Shrubberies were a unique design aspect of this Style. They also embraced the influence of the Orient and botanical curiosity through the introduction of oriental species, colourful shrubs and the planting of many varieties of the same species but with unique appearances. It is known that large sweeping shrubberies developed from Hanbury’s time at Middleton Hall on the southern and eastern edges of the Glade, to the south and east of the Coach House and along the Nature Trail. These shrubberies contained oriental plants such as rhododendrons and bamboo as well as many different varieties of holly and privet that had either different coloured leaves or berries.

A painted photograph of the Nature Trail, c. 1901, showing the colourful rhododendrons and two of Egbert de Hamel's daughters. Courtesy of Philip and William de Hamel.

During the time that Middleton Hall was a ruin, the shrubberies became very overgrown. In order to regain control of the site’s environment, most of the shrubberies have been gradually removed.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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