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Lancelot Brown

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Also known as Capability Brown, Lancelot Capability Brown, 'Capability' Brown, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

British landscape architect (1716–1783)

Key facts

Born
Lancelot Brown , Kirkharle , Northumberland, England
Baptised
30 August 1716
Died
6 February 1783 (1783-02-06) (aged 67–68), London , England
Occupations
Gardener Landscape architect
Spouse
Bridget Wayet ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 22 November 1744</span>"}]]}'>1744 ) ​

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Family name
Brown
Gender
male
Place of birth
Kirkharle
Place of death
London
Occupation
gardener
Languages spoken
English language
Field of work
English garden
Image
Lancelot ('Capability') Brown by Nathaniel Dance, (later Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, Bt) cropped.jpg
Residence
Fenstanton
Show 8 more facts
Commons Creator page
Lancelot "Capability" Brown
Commons category
Capability Brown
date of death
1783-02-06
pseudonym
Capability Brown
has works in the collection
Yale Center for British Art
date of baptism
1716-08-30
date of birth
1716-08-00
Sources (2)

via Wikidata · CC0

~23 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style.

Unlike other architects including William Kent, he was a hands-on gardener and provided his clients with a full turnkey service, designing the gardens and park, and then managing their landscaping and planting. He is most famous for the landscaped parks of English country houses, many of which have survived reasonably intact. However, he also included in his plans "pleasure gardens" with flower gardens and the new shrubberies, usually placed where they would not obstruct the views across the park of and from the main facades of the house. Few of his plantings of "pleasure gardens" have survived later changes. He also submitted plans for much smaller urban projects, for example the college gardens along The Backs at Cambridge.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Lancelot Brown” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.