REVIEW AND ANALYSIS 25 BERRINGTON’S MISSING LINK THE ADAPTIVE RESTORATION OF HENRY HOLLAND and CAPABILITY BROWN’S DESIGNS TO REPAIR ITS LANDSCAPE SETTING SIMON ROBERTSHAW MANY OF the special places that we care for are layered, with thoughtfully considered change by successive owners over time. In some cases these add a richness from a design perspective, while in others they break a key plan or interrupt our appreciation of the original intent. In the parkland setting of many National Trust properties, historic connections between drives, walkways and key design features are crucial to setting, often building the drama of arrival, or departure. Where opportunities arise to reinstate something that has been lost, weighing the relative merits of the various options can be complex. The new garden project at Berrington Hall was initiated for a number of operational reasons; a key one being the need to visually reconnect the triumphal arch to the archway that leads into the impressive rear courtyard of the house, enhancing the setting for both. Because of the limited evidence of what had been present, only the framework of the original plan was restored to recreate the designed unity. Having a deep understanding of significance we were able to see both the capacity for change and the scope for an exciting and sensitive new design layer to be enjoyed by current and future visitors. HISTORIC BACKGROUND Berrington is a country estate near Leominster, Herefordshire, which has been owned by the National Trust since 1955. The house and walled garden are on raised ground with the landscape falling away to the south, west and east. The borrowed landscape views from the house to the Black Mountains are phenomenal, with a lake in the foreground. The house, which is neoclassical, was designed by Henry Holland between 1778 and 1781 for Thomas Berrington Hall seen from the triumphal arch (Photo: Jonathan Taylor) Harley, and it sits at the centre of the garden and parkland landscape designed by Holland’s father-in-law, Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. Their relationship was initially a business one, which became a family affair when Henry married Bridget Brown in 1766. Also engaged in the design of the house was Sir John Soane who Brown took on as an assistant in 1772 (aged 19). He continued with Holland until he left for Italy in 1778. The house is nationally important not least because of the degree to which it is substantially intact. Aside from this, its design is highly refined
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