Stowe, Buckingham, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.  

Extensive and complex pleasure grounds and park around a country mansion. Main phases 18th and early 19th century, utilising a late-17th century base, with early-18th century work by Charles Bridgeman, Sir John Vanbrugh, James Gibbs and William Kent, and mid-18th century work by Lancelot Brown. Stowe was supremely influential on the English landscape garden during the 18th century.

NOTE

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate aescription nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

The site is adjacent to the north Buckinghamshire boundary with Northamptonshire. Stowe mansion lies 4 kilometres north-west of Buckingham, although one of the approaches, Stowe Avenue, begins at the edge of the town. The approximately 500 hectare site lies in gently hilly countryside, bounded on the south by the Chackford to Dadford lane, and on the other sides by agricultural land. The setting is largely agricultural with the small villages of Chackford and Dadford on the south and west boundaries respectively. These villages have always been closely associated with the site. Silverstone Race Circuit is adjacent to the northern tip.

REFERENCES

Note: There is a wealth of material about this site. The key references are cited below.

B Seeley, Description of the house and gardens ... at Stow (1744 and 1777 edns)

J Garden History 2, no 1 (Jan-March 1982), pp 53-4; 5, no 1 (Jan-March 1985), pp 72-83

Country Life, 17 (15 April 1905), p 522; 35 (3 January 1914), pp 18-26; (17 January 1914), pp 90-9

M Bevington, Stowe, The garden and the park (1994) [good on printed and archival sources]

N Pevsner and E Williamson, The Buildings of England: Buckinghamshire (1994), pp 660-87

Maps

S Bridgeman, General plan of woods, park, and gardens of Stowe, 1739

Seeley, Plan in 1777 edn of Description of the house and gardens ... at Stow

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1885

    2nd edition published 1900

    1923 edition

OS 25" to 1mile: 1st edition published 1880

Description written: May 1998

Edited: September 2000