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Stowe Landscape Gardens Photos (2017)

Stowe Landscape Gardens Photos (2017)

24th April 2019

Category: Photos
Tags: Day Trip, Garden, Stowe

Stowe Landscape Gardens is one of my favourite National Trust properties that I rarely visit. Not that I don’t want to but it’s just outside of the ‘easy to get to’ range and harsh experience has taught me that showing up late can make parking a challenge and you are forced to battle an army of cream tea seeking pensioners for that last remaining space (they will win, they’ve been at this longer). Go early, take Werther’s Originals as distractions.

The gardens themselves are a masterpiece of Georgian landscape gardening, first created in the late 1700s but not the responsibility of any one architect, I’m no historian but the National Trust has a nice potted history on their website should you feel the need for a full list of designers and architects. As with many centres of nobility, there’s a fascinating social history behind it all as well, but again, I am not a historian but I’ve popped some links down below should you be interested.

I love a formal garden (not quite as much as an abandoned wasteland) I always find them a slightly surreal experience. The attempt to coerce nature into doing your bidding, generally fairly successfully (nature doesn’t care). Stowe has the undercurrent of surreality bought closer to the surface by dint of its islands of architecture: a gothic temple here, a little square of baroque statues there, some Palladian columns around the corner.

The follies, temples and set pieces are all spaced apart to give you a good solid walk and in several visits, I’m not sure I’ve ever covered all of them, but it doesn’t matter it’s just a fascinating experience to wander from one slightly mystical region to another. In my mind, I imagine it was pulled together by some Doctor Who evil genius pulling bits of history through time and assembling them for their personal amusement.

Also, there’s a cafe which means tea, which is always welcome.

Here are some links:

National Trust Stowe
Stowe House on Wikipedia
Full set of photos on Flickr

Here are some photos:

Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Palladian Bridge
The Palladian Bridge
Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Palladian Bridge - Black and white
The Palladian Bridge (again). Shooting into the sun because I hate my retinas.
Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Gothic Temple
The Gothic Temple – Spooky (not actually spooky)
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Fungus!
Folds of mould (fungus on a tree)
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Temple Of British Worthies - King Alfred
Temple Of British Worthies – King Alfred
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Temple Of British Worthies - John Locke
Temple Of British Worthies – John Locke
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Temple Of Ancient Virtue
Temple Of Ancient Virtue
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Thundercats are GO!
Thundercats are GO!
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Treats please!
Treats please!
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Church Windows
We drifted as if in a dream
Stowe Landscape Gardens - A nice statue!
A nice statue! (I can’t remember which one this was)
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Careful now!
Careful now!
Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Temple of Friendship
The Temple Of Friendship (aka, should have bought a wider lens, now I’m standing in a hedge)
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Hercules and Antaeus wrestling

Hercules and Antaeus wrestling AKA “Difficult poo”
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Hee hee, winkies.
Hee hee, winkies (sorry I am a terrible adult)
Stowe Landscape Gardens - No mum, there was definitely no booze at Gavin's party.
No mum, there was definitely no booze at Gavin’s party.
Stowe Landscape Monument - The Cobham Monument
The Cobham Monument
Raise my hands in anticipation of spring.
Raise my hands in anticipation of spring.
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Holding up the sky
Holding up the sky
Stowe Landscape Gardens - Look into the eye of... wait, what now?
Look into the eye of… wait, what now?
Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Gothic Temple
Tim Burton directed this morning
Stowe Landscape Gardens - The Doctor Who Monster
An escapee from Doctor Who
Stowe Landscape Gardens - A Gathering
A Gathering
Stowe Landscape Gardens - A Guest
A Guest

Previous: Winter Forest Photographs (2017) Next: Interactive Installation - Part 3 - Image Transform

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