Bowood, Calne, England

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

Bowood contains extensive and complex pleasure grounds and a park. Its main phases of development date from the 18th and 19th centuries, including mid-18th-century work by Lancelot Brown and Robert Adam, late 18th-century work by Charles Hamilton and Josiah Lane, early 19th-century work by Robert Smirke and Charles Barry, and mid-19th-century work by John Spencer and George Kennedy.

NOTE
This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description 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.
 

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING 

Bowood, a site of roughly 550 hectares, lies south of the A4 road between Chippenham and Calne. The western boundary of the site is formed by the A342 road between Chippenham and Devizes. To the north of the site lie the villages of Derry Hill and Studley, with to the south-west the village of Sandy Lane. To the east the site is bounded by agricultural land. The site falls gently from the south-west in a north-easterly direction, with a stream, the Whetham Brook, flowing from south to north. The latter is joined by another stream from the south-west, the Wash Way. Both streams feed Bowood Lake situated in the eastern part of the site.
 

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

NOTE There is a wealth of published material about this site. The key references are listed below.

Country Life, 17 (28 January 1905), pp 126-36; 151 (8 June 1972), pp 1448-51; (22 June 1972), pp 1610-13; 152 (7 September 1972), pp 546-9

B Jones, Follies & Grottoes (1974), p 165

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), pp 90-2

B Cherry and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire (2nd edition 1975), pp 121-3

C Thacker, History of Gardens (1979), pp 226-7

J Sales, West Country Gardens (1980), pp 193-4

G Carter et al, Humphry Repton (1982), p 163

T Hinde, Capability Brown (1986), pp 85-7

M Batey and D Lambert, The English Garden Tour (1990), pp 225-30

Maps

John Powell, Topographical map or plan of Bowood, 1763 (private collection)

Lancelot Brown, Plan for Bowood, 1763 (private collection)

A Plan of Bowood Park, 1778 (private collection)

OS 6" to 1 mile:

1st edition published 1889

2nd edition published 1902

OS 25" to 1 mile:

1st edition published 1887

2nd edition published 1902