Capability Brown statue unveiling: Richard Jackson (left) of the Hammersmith Society with sculptor Laury Dizengremel
Capability Brown once more gazes across a beloved stretch of the Thames after a statue commemorating the influential landscape designer was unveiled in Hammersmith this week.
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown is one of Britain’s best known and most influential landscape designers, responsible for creating some of the most impressive and inspiring grounds in the UK, including those at Syon House, in nearby Brentford.
The statue was unveiled as this week marks 300 years since his birth and its riverside location in Distillery Wharf, near Chancellors Road, where he lived with his wife for 13 years.
The statue was paid for through a fundraising campaign, led by the Hammersmith Society.
“Capability Brown was without challenge England's greatest landscape designer,” said Richard Jackson, of the Hammersmith Society committee member.
“Following the national celebrations for the tercentenary of his birth in 2016, the Hammersmith Society agreed to support a campaign to commission a statue to be sited by the river in Hammersmith, close to where he lived with his family, for thirteen years.
“It was during this time that he designed his greatest landscapes including Blenheim, Petworth, Chatsworth, Burghley and Alnwick.”
Capability Brown worked on more than 250 estates across England and Wales, covering around 200 square miles. His aim was often to create landscapes that although man-made, looked natural.
Many of Brown’s landscapes are owned by the National Trust and can still be visited explored and enjoyed today.
Among them, they include Stowe in Buckinghamshire, Petworth in West Sussex, Croome in Worcestershire, the Ashridge Estate in Hertfordshire, the Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire and Dinefwr in Carmarthenshire.
In 1764 Brown left Hammersmith when he was appointed Royal Gardener for Hampton Court by King George III and moved into the palace grounds.
Find out more about Capability Brown’s tercentenary celebrations.
And for more information on the statue, visit the Capability Brown statue website.
