Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great designer of the classic phase of the English landscape garden, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown. His style is thought of as the precursor of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century. His first name is often incorrectly spelt "Humphrey".
For the English amateur cricketer also named Humphrey Repton, see Humphrey Repton (cricketer).Unlike Brown and other famous predecessors, he only worked as a designer, not the contractor for executing his designs, and therefore made much less money. Many of his famous sketches with folding sections survive; these gave "before and after" views for his clients. He appears to be the first person to describe himself (on his business card) as a landscape gardener.
Biography[edit]
Early life[edit]
Repton was born in Bury St Edmunds, the son of a collector of excise, John Repton, and Martha (née Fitch).[1] In 1762, his father set up a transport business in Norwich, where Humphry attended Norwich Grammar School. At age twelve, he was sent to the Netherlands to learn Dutch and prepare for a career as a merchant. However, Repton was befriended by a wealthy Dutch family and the trip may have done more to stimulate his interest in 'polite' pursuits such as sketching and gardening.
Returning to Norwich, Repton was apprenticed to a textile merchant, then, after marriage to Mary Clarke in 1773, set up in the business himself. He was not successful, and when his parents died in 1778 used his modest legacy to move to a small country estate at Sustead, near Cromer in Norfolk. Repton tried his hand as a journalist, dramatist, artist, political agent, and as confidential secretary to his neighbour William Windham of Felbrigg Hall during Windham's very brief stint as Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Repton also joined John Palmer in a venture to reform the mail-coach system, but while the scheme ultimately made Palmer's fortune, Repton again lost money.
Repton's childhood friend was the botanist James Edward Smith, who encouraged him to study botany and gardening; Smith reproduces a long letter from Repton in his Letter and Correspondence. He was given access to the library of Windham to read its works on botany.[1]
Repton published three major books on garden design: Sketches and Hints on Landscape Gardening (1795), Observations on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1803), and Fragments on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening (1816). These drew on material and techniques used in the Red Books.
Several lesser works were also published, including a posthumous collection edited by John Claudius Loudon, despite having severely criticised his approach to gardens.[1]
His published titles were:[1]
Repton contributed to the Transactions of the Linnean Society, xi. 27, a paper "On the supposed Effect of Ivy upon Trees."
Bicentenary celebrations in 2018[edit]
The Gardens Trust was awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund grant to run a ‘Sharing Repton’ project in 2018–19, working with volunteers to deliver five projects aimed at including participation from local communities, based around five Repton sites across the country. The project took place at Kenwood, London, with London Parks and Gardens Trust and English Heritage; Wicksteed Park, Kettering, with Northamptonshire Gardens Trust; Catton Park, with Norfolk Gardens Trust and Broadland District Council; Blaise Castle, Bristol, with Avon Gardens Trust, and Warley Woods in the Black Country.[17] A record of the project and the resources developed to make garden history more publicly accessible were published in 2020.[18]
Historic England have added Humphry Repton's landscapes to their interactive map of aerial photography of Designed Landscapes [19] and commissioned Hardy Plants and Plantings for Repton and Late Georgian Gardens (1780–1820) which draws on research carried out on plants and planting schemes for late Georgian gardens (1780–1820) and conservation projects, intended to provide a plant list as a starting point for researchers and those restoring gardens of this period.[20]