Visiting Chiswick House Gardens

Chiswick House Gardens, designed by William Kent and Lord Burlington in the 1720s and 30s are – as the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement – of immense importance in the history of Western art and culture. For the first time, a garden moved away from the straight lines and formality of Renaissance gardens in favour of natural curves and clusters. This Arcadian image of the English Garden would take Europe and North America by storm, its influence can be seen in landscapes from Villa Reale in Italy to Central Park, New York.

Over the past 300 years, the Gardens have been transformed from a great nobleman’s estate to a public park. The different areas within the estate (described below) each embody a distinct historical period and combine to deliver a beautifully illustrated history of Englishgarden design.

The end of the 20th century witnessed a slow decline in the fortunes of the Gardens as its vistas became overgrown and its paths struggled under the strain of over a million pairs of feet a year. The Gardens suffered because of the split management of the site, with Chiswick House being managed by English Heritage and the Gardens by the London Borough of Hounslow. Like most parks and gardens across the country, dwindling non-statutory local authority budgets meant that fewer resources were available.

Grass and hedges were cut but very little was done to the trees and woodland. The vigorous regeneration of self sown trees, following the great storm in 1987, prevented sufficient light penetrating to the woodlandfloors, choking-out the ground flora and leaving bare ground and muddy patches.

In 2005, English Heritage and the London Borough of Hounslow (although still closely involved) collaborated to form the independent Chiswick House and Gardens Trust to oversee the regeneration of the Gardens. The aim of the restoration was to reveal the cultural and natural heritage of the site as well as improve the facilities for visitors. Historic restoration was given precedence in the core area around Chiswick House and in the Italian Garden (see below) at the eastern end of the site. To the west of the artificial river, the woodlands are managed with the aim of increasing biodiversity, a meadow is being established and areas have been set aside for wild fowl. Important changes by Burlington’s successors were respected and conserved. Extensive consultation with present and potential visitors to the site has been important in guiding the project, to ensure the improvements meet the needs of today’s visitors.

The overriding ambition was to restore the special character of the Gardens, making them a source of beauty, inspiration and recreation for visitors from the local Chiswick community, London and across the world.