Charles Bridgeman

Little is recorded of the early life of Charles Bridgeman. He was born in 1690 and raised in modest circumstances. His father was a gardener who is reported to have worked at Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire for the Earl of Oxford. The younger Bridgeman entered the landscaping profession by working for the Brompton Park Nursery. By 1714 he had begun working with Henry Wise, with whom he later shared the title of Chief Gardener for the royal gardens (Strong, 1992, 39). Bridgeman married Sarah Mist in 1717.{{Cite web |url=http://www.brookmans.com/environment/gobions/ch3.shtml |title=A History of Gobions |access-date=27 September 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224032957/http://www.brookmans.com/environment/gobions/ch3.shtml |archive-date=24 December 2017 |url-status=dead}}

An early proponent of a less-structured garden design, Bridgeman was a pioneer in the landscape style that spread throughout much of Europe in the 18th century and came to be known as the jardin anglais.[http://www.britainexpress.com/History/landscape_gardens.htm English Landscape Gardens]{{cite web |url=http://museum.gov.ns.ca/uemp/garden.htm |title=The English Landscape Garden Style |access-date=2004-09-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205025130/http://museum.gov.ns.ca/uemp/garden.htm |archive-date=5 December 2007}}{{sfn|Jellicoe|1986|p=72}} A contemporary of Bridgeman's, Horace Walpole, describing his colleague's design style in his essay On Modern Gardening, wrote: "though he still adhered much to strait walks with high clipt hedges, they were only his great lines; the rest he diversified by wilderness, and with loose groves of oak, though still within surrounding hedges" (Amherst, 1896, p. 249). Bridgeman’s approach to landscaping can be summarised in three terms: formal, transitional and progressive. His landscapes displayed formal elements such as parterres, avenues, geometrically shaped lakes and pools, and kitchen gardens. Transitional elements in his designs included lawns, amphitheatres, garden buildings and statues, winding paths through wooded areas to viewing points and the use of ha-has; these features are some of the progressive ideas he helped bring into favour.{{sfn|Jellicoe|1986|p=72}}

File:William Hogarth 022.jpg's A Rake's Progress, No. 2, 1732–1734]]

Bridgeman made a name for himself among the artisans of the day with his often dramatic redesigns of the estate gardens belonging to wealthy English nobles. He laid out the extravagant garden of Lord Cobham at Stowe, which compiled temples, pillars, finely carved stone statues, summer houses, and a miniature replica of an Egyptian pyramid (Amherst, 1896, p. 251). This was perhaps most his most renowned work.[http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~helphand/englishpgsone/englishpg6.html Stowe 1746][http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~rviau/ids/Artworks/bridgeman.html Charles Bridgeman (1680–1738) & Stowe] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050319060240/http://www.faculty.de.gcsu.edu/~rviau/ids/Artworks/bridgeman.html|date=19 March 2005}} English essayist and poet Alexander Pope{{cite web|last=Liukkonen|first=Petri|title=Alexander Pope (1688–1744)|url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040923090116/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/apope.htm|archive-date=23 September 2004|website=Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi)|publisher=Kuusankoski Public Library|location=Finland}} wrote of Bridgeman's creations at Stowe as being the "work to wonder at" (Batey, et al., 1990, p. 168).

Bridgeman participated in the design of a garden at Rousham House in Oxfordshire that included cascades, fountains, square pools, an outdoor theatre, and a wilderness area that could be viewed from a vantage point within the main garden. Batey and Lambert (1990, p. 156) wrote of this garden: "at Rousham the views out into the countryside are as important as those in the garden". Other estate gardens Bridgeman had a hand in planning include Claremont,[http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~helphand/englishpgsone/englishpg4.html Claremont, Amphitheater][http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~helphand/englishpgsone/englishpg5.html Claremont – Amphitheater] Cassiobury Park, Cliveden, Chiswick House, Kew Gardens,[http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/heritage/timeline/1700to1772_bridgeman.html Charles Bridgeman at Richmond] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040817012418/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/heritage/timeline/1700to1772_bridgeman.html |date=17 August 2004 }} Wimpole Hall, Briggens House in Essex, and Amesbury Abbey in Wiltshire.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1000469|desc=Amesbury Abbey (park and garden)|access-date=4 June 2021}}

However, Bridgeman perhaps remains best known for his tenure as Royal Gardener for Queen Anne and Prince George of Denmark. He was promoted to this position, which he held for ten years, upon the retirement of his mentor, Henry Wise. As Royal Gardener, Bridgeman tended – and in many cases, redesigned – the royal gardens at Windsor, Kensington Palace, Hampton Court, St. James's Park and Hyde Park.

• Houghton Hall, Norfolk
• Wolterton Hall, Norfolk

{{Reflist|35em}}

• Amherst, Alicia. (1896). A History of Gardening in England. London: Bernard Quaritch.
• Batey, Mavis, David Lambert. (1990). The English Garden Tour. London: John Murray Ltd.
• {{cite book|last=Jellicoe|first=Geoffrey|authorlink=Geoffrey Jellicoe|title=The Oxford Companion to Gardens|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWUJjwEACAAJ|year=1986|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• Strong, Roy. (1992). Royal Gardens. New York: Pocket Books.
• Willis, Peter. (1977; rev. 2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20050524161420/http://www.psbooks.co.uk/BookDetails.asp?Code=24881&pg=Gardening&ur=C&H_Gardening_Title.asp%23Nav24881 Charles Bridgeman and the English landscape Garden].

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• {{cite book |first1=Alicia |last1=Amherst |title=A History of Gardening in England |edition=3rd |year=2006 |orig-year=1910 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fk4KTrvZ8nMC |location= Whitefish, Montana|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|isbn=9781428636804 }}
• {{cite book |first=Sir F. Reginald|last=Blomfield|others=Illustrations by Inigo Thomas|title=The Formal Garden in England|edition=3rd|year=1972 |orig-year=1901 |location=New York |publisher=Macmillan and Co |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/845951?q&l-decade=190|access-date=7 June 2024|via=Trove by National Library of Australia}}
• {{cite book |first=Derek|last=Clifford|title=A History of Garden Design |edition=2nd |year=1967 |location=New York |publisher=Praeger|oclc=18787306}}
• {{cite book |first1=Marie-Luise Schröeter (1863–1931) |last1=Gothein |author-link1=Marie-Luise Gothein |title=History of Garden Art |volume=2 |year=1928 |orig-year=1910 |url=http://www.gardenvisit.com/history_theory/library_online_ebooks/ml_gothein_history_garden_art_design |last2=Wright |first2=Walter P. (1864–1940) |last3=Archer-Hind |first3=Laura |author4=Alden Hopkins Collection |location=London & Toronto, New York |publisher=J. M. Dent; 1928 Dutton |isbn=978-3-424-00935-4}} 945 pages Publisher: Hacker Art Books; Facsimile edition (June 1972) {{ISBN|0-87817-008-1}}; {{ISBN|978-0-87817-008-1}}.
• Gothein, Marie. Geschichte der Gartenkunst. München: Diederichs, 1988 {{ISBN|978-3-424-00935-4}}.
• {{cite book |first=Miles |last=Hadfield |title=Gardening in Britain |year=1960 |location=Newton, Massachusetts|publisher=C.T. Branford|oclc=2683404}}
• {{cite book |first=Gerald |last=Heath |title=Hampton Court: The Story of a Village |editor-first1=Kathy|editor-last1=White|editor-first2=Joan|editor-last2=Heath|publisher=The Hampton Court Association |year=2000 |isbn=0-9538700-0-6}}
• {{cite book |first=Christopher |last=Hussey |title=English Gardens and Landscapes, 1700–1750 |year=1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5mVRAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Country Life|oclc=2616591|via=Google Books|access-date=7 June 2024}}
• {{cite book |first=Edward S. |last=Hyams |others=Photos by Edwin Smith|title=The English Garden |year=1964 |location=New York |publisher=H.N. Abrams|oclc=991262}}
• {{cite book |first=Simon |last=Thurley |title=Hampton Court, A Social and Architectural History |publisher=Yale University Press|year=2003|isbn=0300102232}}

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040911074817/http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/heritage/people/bridgeman.html Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew:] Charles Bridgeman
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20040821161453/http://plants.info/people/charles-bridgeman.htm Complete list of places associated with Charles Bridgeman]

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Category:1690 births

Category:1738 deaths

Category:English gardeners

Category:English landscape architects

Category:English Landscape Garden designers