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Hobhouse, 1992 |
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Gardens became an allegory for the Queen Elizabeth, the white eglantine rose personified. In fact, many of the aristocrats had gardens built for when she might visit their homes. The most prominent of the Elizabethan gardens are those of the houses Kenilworth, Theobald, Wollaton, Wimbledon, and Nonsuch. Unfortunately, these gardens do not exist in the same designs today and there is little extant information on any actual Elizabethan gardens other than travel diaries from the period or tapestries like the one to the left. |
The
Renaissance Garden was regarded as man's triumph over
nature. The designs more commonly lay out as rectangles or
squares, divided into four, six or eight compartments. Often
a gravel or sand path would divide the sections and all
focus towards a focal central feature, like a fountain. A
most important fe B a n k s 1 9 9 1
ature
of this garden is the surrounding wall or fence. The
enclosed nature of the garden created a sense of protection
from the outside world, thereby establishing a sense of safe
earthly paradise in which relaxation and entertainment would
abound. These gardens were dependent on the inventiveness of
the geometrical patterns for their spectacular effects.
Often there was an adjacent a smaller more intimate Privy
garden attached to the main garden or Great Garden. It was
here that one could seek personal refuge from the larger
space used primarily for entertaining. Unfortunately, most
of these gardens were redesigned within ten years of Queen
Elizabeth's death under the Jacobian reign and influenced by
the Mannerist style of gardening.
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