This is discussed in J Summeron, 1980, op cit, pp 166-169.

3 A t the end o f the eighteenth century the interpretation and meaning o f landscape was discussed at length by the Rev W illiam Gilpin, Uvedale Price and Richard Payne Knight. Some o f their works are considered la te r in this chapter.

a lth o u g h these parks were in an u rb a n setting the landscaping issues s u rro u n d in g th e ir im p ro v e m e n t h a d resonance w ith the w id e r debates a b ou t landscape in th e e a rly n in e te e n th c e n tu ry. The use o f landscape design p rin c ip le s to shape u rb a n space o ffe re d a su b tle r reading o f the cityscape th a n th a t presented b y th e a b r u p t class consciousness o f d e ve lo p m e n ts lik e Regent Street.

T h is c h a p te r c o n c e n tra te s on h o w D ecim u s B u rto n m ade a p p ro p ria te landscapes fo r a c ity s e ttin g a n d the aim s and id e o lo g y b e h in d h is designs. These lan d s w ere ow ned b y th e crow n and were designed and la id o u t to enhance the image o f the m o n a rch and the state and to p ro v id e e ffe ctive c o m m u n ica tio n b e tw e e n im p o r t a n t p u b lic b u ild in g s . T h e re w e re a lso p h ila n th ro p ic undertones in the concern to p ro v id e c ity dw ellers w ith open spaces w ith fre sh a ir. The ro le Decimus B u rto n played in the shaping o f this sensory experience o f the c ity is charted b y a p a ra lle l stu d y o f the im provem ents he c a rrie d o u t in the parks. T ogether these fo rm the basis o f w h a t is term ed here the u rb a n picturesque. The them e o f the u rb a n picturesque m ay appear to be a c o n tra d ic tio n in terms. U rbanism and u rb a n p la n n in g do n o t a t f ir s t a p pe a r to m a rry w e ll to g e th e r w ith landscape garde n design w ith its bucolic and arcadian associations. But the te rm is a v a lid one w hen re fe rrin g to the landscaped parks o f th e e a rly n in e te e n th c e n tu ry w h ich were a new k in d o f u rb a n space.

The e ig h te e n th -c e n tu ry c o u n try house a n d its g a rd e n w ere sym bols o f the new society - a ris to c ra tic , le isu re d , la n d e d and ric h . B u t th is d id n o t c o n tin u e in to th e n in e te e n th c e n tu ry w ith o u t d is tin c t a m e nd m e n ts. The c ity becam e in c re a s in g ly

im p o rta n t and m oney was generated b y in d u s try creating a new and s ig n ific a n t m id d le class. But the p o w e rfu l in flu e n c e o f the la n d s c a p e s t ill h a d re so n a n ce in th e n in e te e n th - c e n tu ry m e tro p o lis. Tow ards the end o f the eighte e n th c e n tu ry the wars in Europe and the consequent d iffic u ltie s fo r fo re ig n tra v e l had encouraged hom e tourism .4 This a c tiv ity had developed to inclu d e the a p p re c ia tio n o f th e landscape in general ra th e r th a n ju s t landscape gardens and here advice was on h and as to how to view it.5 The p o litic a l significance o f the landscape an d its a b ility to engender a sense o f n a tio n a lis m , pleasure a n d /o r w e ll being in the v is ito r d id n o t go u n n o tic e d b y theorists and e n lig h te n m e n t th in ke rs. These p rin c ip le s were used in the u rb a n p la n o f London to in flu e n c e the subjective response o f the in d iv id u a l to the new u rb a n landscape. The th e o ris ts had e sta b lish e d th e sym b o lic fu n c tio n o f landscape and a rc h ite c tu re here i t was used in the service o f m o n a rch , state and n a tio n inste ad o f an in d iv id u a l lan d o w n e r. The educated p o p u la tio n were a lre a d y accustomed to re a din g th e landscape. The a p pre cia tion o f the Tower o rd ers’ o f these discrete u rb a n spaces was also p a rt o f the o ve rall plan.

In p o s itio n in g th e la n d sca p in g o f the R oyal Parks w ith in the fra m e w o rk o f th e p ic tu re sq u e i t is im p o rta n t to esta b lish h ow th e y fe a tu re d o n the u rb a n m ap and h o w th e y d e te rm in e d the re a d in g o f it. Leading on fro m th is is the qu estio n o f h o w the

^ This phenomenon is discussed in L Colley, Britons, the forging o f a nation, New Haven and London, 1992.

5 For a fu ller discussion o f the ways in which the m iddle and upper