0:00:03 > 0:00:07There is a certain magical stretch of the Thames in London
0:00:07 > 0:00:10that was at the centre of an 18th century cultural movement
0:00:10 > 0:00:13that changed our British landscapes forever.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19At the heart of it was a fascination with the ancient concept of Arcadia,
0:00:19 > 0:00:23where man and nature lived in perfect pastoral harmony.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27This is where Sir Walpole described that Kent jumped the fence and saw
0:00:27 > 0:00:28that all nature was a garden.
0:00:28 > 0:00:31A radical group of writers and artists
0:00:31 > 0:00:33completely overturned the idea
0:00:33 > 0:00:35of what comprised a beautiful landscape
0:00:35 > 0:00:38and challenged the formality of the day.
0:00:38 > 0:00:42It's emphasising the complete power of the monarch.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Their legacy can still be seen around the world.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50So who were these visionaries
0:00:50 > 0:00:53at the heart of this transformative movement?
0:00:53 > 0:00:55Pope is enormously famous,
0:00:55 > 0:00:57enormously influential at this period.
0:00:57 > 0:01:00And where did their inspiration come from?
0:01:00 > 0:01:05This is the classical tradition being fantastically realised
0:01:05 > 0:01:07by the 18th century imagination.
0:01:07 > 0:01:08I'm Janina Ramirez,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12and I'm going to explore their world along the Thames,
0:01:12 > 0:01:15visit their houses, gardens and curious creations
0:01:15 > 0:01:19and discover why their ideas are still so relevant today...
0:01:19 > 0:01:21I want all the advantages of the city,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23and all the...many of the advantages
0:01:23 > 0:01:26of living where nature is still visible.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28..as I go in search of Arcadia.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Arcadia.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00A vision of pastoral bliss
0:02:00 > 0:02:05where man and nature lived in harmony.
0:02:05 > 0:02:06It was the ancient Greeks
0:02:06 > 0:02:09that first came up with the idea of Arcadia,
0:02:09 > 0:02:11and it's fascinated people ever since.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22This Greek mythology and the idea of a pastoral Eden
0:02:22 > 0:02:27led ancient poets like Virgil to write poems that idealised Arcadia,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30developing a philosophy that has lasted for centuries.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38And in Britain, in the 18th century,
0:02:38 > 0:02:44this seductive philosophy inspired an explosion of interest in Arcadian
0:02:44 > 0:02:49themes. This was expressed across all the arts - in poetry, writing,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53painting, architecture and garden design.
0:02:53 > 0:02:56And that's what I want to explore in this programme.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01In the early 1700s,
0:03:01 > 0:03:03an extraordinary group of people
0:03:03 > 0:03:05were drawn here by royalty, nobility,
0:03:05 > 0:03:09and by the beauty of this stretch of the river.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13They tried to transform this Thames landscape into an Arcadian idyll.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16To help me understand what inspired them,
0:03:16 > 0:03:19I'm starting my journey with an iconic image.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25This is one of the most important and famous
0:03:25 > 0:03:27of the Arcadian paintings.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30It's Et In Arcadia Ego
0:03:30 > 0:03:31by Nicholas Poussin,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35painted in 1638.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Everything about this painting gives that impression of harmony.
0:03:39 > 0:03:40There's the frame,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44all the way around the edge of these beautiful trees,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47and mountains, and the grass.
0:03:47 > 0:03:52So, the landscape is part of this Arcadian idea,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54but so are the figures.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57They are part of the trees, of the mountains,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59that embrace them and surround them.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Man and nature, harmonised.
0:04:02 > 0:04:07It's not hard to see why this painting has inspired
0:04:07 > 0:04:08so many people.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20This is Garrick's Temple.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23It marks the start of the Arcadian Thames -
0:04:23 > 0:04:26a 12-mile stretch of river that flows through
0:04:26 > 0:04:28a classically inspired landscape.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34This unique part of the river winds its way past Hampton Court,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37through Twickenham, Richmond and Kew,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and then finally on to Chiswick.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44I'll be travelling down the river by boat with John Bailey,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46waterman and historian.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49We'll be experiencing the essence of the river,
0:04:49 > 0:04:50while I'm discovering more
0:04:50 > 0:04:53about the people at the heart of this revolution -
0:04:53 > 0:04:57where they lived and what they did to transform this landscape.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00Hey! You're here.
0:05:00 > 0:05:04We're starting our journey together, on a traditional Thames wherry.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Right, let me get the rope and pull you up.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09- OK.- There we go!
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- Thank you. Lovely seeing you. - Oh, it's good to see you.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14Right, have you got your fishing stuff with you?
0:05:14 > 0:05:17So, I've got my fishing stuff and I've got a copy of my very favourite
0:05:17 > 0:05:21book for you. It's Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler.
0:05:21 > 0:05:22You'll have heard of it, obviously,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25the most famous fishing book there has ever been.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36The Compleat Angler was written by Izaak Walton
0:05:36 > 0:05:38and was published in 1653.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41It's an English literary classic
0:05:41 > 0:05:43and is one of the first books to call for responsible management
0:05:43 > 0:05:45of the natural world.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48Walton believed that being at one with nature was key to
0:05:48 > 0:05:51spiritual enlightenment.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54John, I want to know why is it that this book has done so well?
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Hasn't it been reprinted something like 400 times?
0:05:57 > 0:06:01400 times over 300, 400 years.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04Obviously, there's a lot of good fishing stuff in there.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06- Right.- And really surprisingly good fishing stuff.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08- It's usable as a fishing manual? - It is, it is.- Yeah?- Even today.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11I mean, there are some beautiful, beautiful bits in it for the angler.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13I think it's been so successful, Janina,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16because over centuries and centuries people have just been able to dip
0:06:16 > 0:06:21into it, and to take from it, in a way, what they want to take from it.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24It's this beautiful mix of fishing,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27countryside, fun, friendship, advice.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30I mean, I'm sure Izaak didn't expect it to be such a massive,
0:06:30 > 0:06:32massive success.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40Izaak Walton was an Anglican and a deeply religious man.
0:06:40 > 0:06:41His faith was reflected
0:06:41 > 0:06:45in his enthusiastic praise of the beauty of the countryside
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and the human place within it.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51The book takes the form of a dialogue between a fisherman,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53a hunter and a falconer,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57mixed with poems, songs and practical advice on fishing.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59This is a dialogue between Piscator and Venator,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02between the fisherman and the hunter.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06And Izaak is trying, through the words of the Piscator,
0:07:06 > 0:07:09to create this...this idyll
0:07:09 > 0:07:12that the angler experiences and loves.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14And I think this is what's kept it going, you know,
0:07:14 > 0:07:17being...made it so successful throughout the centuries,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20because of course it was one of Wordsworth's favourite books.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24If you look in there, you'll find my bookmark.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27- Oh, yeah.- And one of my favourite little songs in there...
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I don't expect you to sing it, but you might like...
0:07:30 > 0:07:32I don't know how to sing it, but I can certainly read it.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33This one, the Milkmaid's Song?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35Yeah, just a start, gives you a...
0:07:37 > 0:07:40- ..a taste of what Walton's about. - OK.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42RECITES: Come live with me and be my love
0:07:42 > 0:07:44And we will all the pleasures prove
0:07:44 > 0:07:48That valleys, groves or hills or fields or woods
0:07:48 > 0:07:50And steepy mountains yields.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52That's gorgeous. Do you know what I like it?
0:07:52 > 0:07:54I like the fact that it's...
0:07:54 > 0:07:57It roots it firmly in the British landscape.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04At the time of its publication,
0:08:04 > 0:08:07England was still recovering from the brutality of civil war
0:08:07 > 0:08:10and was mired in political chaos.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14The king had been beheaded and the country was ruled as a republic,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18yet Walton proposed that time spent in nature,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21enjoying the simple pleasure of angling and pastoral surroundings,
0:08:21 > 0:08:24could bring about a sense of wellbeing.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27For Walton, fishing was the pastime of sane men
0:08:27 > 0:08:29in a world of apparent insanity.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34Izaak Walton and his friends, they feel physically threatened,
0:08:34 > 0:08:37they are seeing their religion threatened,
0:08:37 > 0:08:40because of course they were Anglican
0:08:40 > 0:08:43and Cromwell was a strict Puritan, as you know.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46So, in some ways, this book was, if you like,
0:08:46 > 0:08:47a release for Walton.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50I think he probably wrote it at this particular time because there was a
0:08:50 > 0:08:56deep need in him to portray something that was pastoral,
0:08:56 > 0:08:57Arcadian.
0:08:57 > 0:09:01There's so much passion, it's almost a spirituality.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03See, that's what fascinates me about it.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06I think it's this idea that it's a philosophy
0:09:06 > 0:09:09in the absence of a good, solid religious foundation,
0:09:09 > 0:09:12which is what sort of happens in the late 17th century.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15And so, under the guise of an angling book,
0:09:15 > 0:09:18you have these deep spiritual insights into the relationship
0:09:18 > 0:09:20between man and nature, don't you?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24- Right.- What are you off to do now?
0:09:24 > 0:09:26Well, I'm off to meet my great friend
0:09:26 > 0:09:31who is an expert at fishing and an expert on Izaak Walton,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and we're going to have a lovely bucolic afternoon.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42- Going to go that way?- Yeah.- OK.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44In many ways, The Compleat Angler
0:09:44 > 0:09:48presented a model of how to live rather than how to fish.
0:09:48 > 0:09:49- I'll see you in a bit.- Bye.- Bye.
0:09:56 > 0:10:00John is heading to the river to experience Walton's philosophy
0:10:00 > 0:10:03first-hand with fellow angler Keith Elliott.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08Hello, John.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13- You've even brought me a chair. - Yep.- What have you caught?
0:10:13 > 0:10:15I am giving a very good demonstration of why it's called
0:10:15 > 0:10:18fishing rather than catching at the moment, actually.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20What am I going to fish? A float or a feeder?
0:10:20 > 0:10:22I wouldn't bother with a float, actually.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I think the answer is a feeder, fish it out and see what comes from it.
0:10:25 > 0:10:27- And we'll have a natter.- Yes.
0:10:27 > 0:10:28So we're just here for a social.
0:10:28 > 0:10:29Excellent.
0:10:44 > 0:10:46Right, maestro, I'm ready to go.
0:10:46 > 0:10:48OK, I would have thought about a third of the way across.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51- I can't cast that far. - I think you'll...
0:10:51 > 0:10:54you'll catch nothing there, just as much as you would two thirds,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56except that it means less winding in.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59Back in the 17th century,
0:10:59 > 0:11:00the Thames was a means
0:11:00 > 0:11:02for transporting people and goods through London,
0:11:02 > 0:11:04but it was also a refuge
0:11:04 > 0:11:07from the plague, smoke and pollution of the city.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09Sitting here today, Keith,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13it brings home to you what Walton really was about.
0:11:13 > 0:11:19Yes, he was a fisherman, but it's that lovely oneness with nature,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23it's that lovely synchronicity.
0:11:23 > 0:11:24Oh, I thought you had a fish.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- It's the worm.- Oh, it's the worm!
0:11:27 > 0:11:29Not that big a fish, come on.
0:11:29 > 0:11:30It's that oneness, isn't it,
0:11:30 > 0:11:35with the natural world that I suppose even then, in 1653,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Walton felt was disappearing or being forgotten?
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Well, since we're here, we might as well look at it.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45When he was talking about, in this, about...when there was,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48you know, Auceps and Venator and Piscator,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50and he was talking about why he was doing it,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52and I think it was Auceps who was saying, you know,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54"Why do they go fishing?"
0:11:54 > 0:11:57Yeah, he said, "And I profess myself a falconer
0:11:57 > 0:12:00"and have heard many grave, serious men pity them.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03" 'Tis such a heavy, contemptible, dull recreation."
0:12:03 > 0:12:05You know? And he says, "You know, gentlemen,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08" 'tis an easy thing to scoff at any art or recreation.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11"A little wit mixed with ill nature, confidence and malice will do it."
0:12:11 > 0:12:13And then he talks about why he does it.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15And he says, "Let me tell you, sir,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18"there have been many men that by others are taken to be grave
0:12:18 > 0:12:20"and serious men which we condemn and pity,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23"men that are taken to be grave because nature has made them
0:12:23 > 0:12:25"of a sour complexion. Money-getting men,
0:12:25 > 0:12:27"men that spend all their time
0:12:27 > 0:12:29"first in getting and next in anxious care to keep it,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31"men that are condemned to be rich
0:12:31 > 0:12:33"and then always busy and discontented.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36"For these poor rich men, we anglers pity them perfectly."
0:12:36 > 0:12:38I mean, Walton put it very well, didn't he?
0:12:38 > 0:12:42About it wasn't about catching fish, it was just the relaxation.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44Fishing has always been a balm for the soul.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49I think it's been a means of escape for anglers when they've been
0:12:49 > 0:12:52traumatised or stressed and, of course,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56when Walton was writing The Compleat Angler in the 1650s,
0:12:56 > 0:13:01it must have been easily the most terrifying time of his life.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Seven years after the publication of Walton's book,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19the monarchy was restored to the throne in 1660.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21In the years that followed,
0:13:21 > 0:13:23the nation became more politically settled.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26Yet despite Walton's book becoming fashionable,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30his idea of living in harmony with nature was still out of step
0:13:30 > 0:13:32with other tastemakers of the time.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40The next destination on my Arcadian journey is one of the most famous
0:13:40 > 0:13:42historic palaces in London.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50In the late 17th century,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54joint monarchs William III and Mary II embarked
0:13:54 > 0:13:57on a massive rebuilding project here, at Hampton Court.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03They commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild
0:14:03 > 0:14:05the palace in a grand baroque style,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08reminiscent of the great European courts.
0:14:20 > 0:14:27This was to be a grand statement for a reformed, powerful monarchy.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29And it needed a garden to match.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35MUSIC: Zadok the Priest by George Frideric Handel
0:15:03 > 0:15:06William III ordered the privy gardens to be remodelled
0:15:06 > 0:15:08in a formal French or Dutch style,
0:15:08 > 0:15:11inspired by the grand gardens of Versailles.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15The grass was cut into intricate patterns with a background
0:15:15 > 0:15:16of sand and gravel,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20and yew trees and hollies were shaped into cones and globes.
0:15:23 > 0:15:31This really is nature ordered, controlled, contained,
0:15:31 > 0:15:32suppressed even.
0:15:32 > 0:15:39It's emphasising the complete power and authority of the monarch over
0:15:39 > 0:15:41everything, even the natural world.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57Within just a few years of the garden's completion in 1702,
0:15:57 > 0:16:00formal gardens in the baroque style began to fall out of fashion.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Did you catch anything?
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Absolutely nothing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:07This was the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment,
0:16:07 > 0:16:12a movement which placed reason at the centre of ideas about politics,
0:16:12 > 0:16:13philosophy and science.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17Society was ready for change.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20I did some research before I came out with you on the river, and...
0:16:20 > 0:16:24So there's these two very well-known literary geniuses -
0:16:24 > 0:16:27Joseph Addison and Alexander Pope -
0:16:27 > 0:16:31and they write articles in newspapers
0:16:31 > 0:16:34about ten years later - 1712, 1713 -
0:16:34 > 0:16:39in which they satirise these sorts of formal gardens.
0:16:39 > 0:16:43You think of them as being interested in poetic themes
0:16:43 > 0:16:44and big ideas, but in this case,
0:16:44 > 0:16:46they're actually talking about the taste,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48the fashion for these clipped gardens.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50The first quote
0:16:50 > 0:16:54is Joseph Addison in the Spectator in 1712.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56"Our British gardeners, on the contrary,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58"instead of humouring nature,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01"love to deviate from it as much as possible.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05"Our trees rise in cones, globes and pyramids.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08"We see the marks of scissors upon every plant and bush."
0:17:08 > 0:17:11So Addison's poking fun at it.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14Pope in the Guardian in 1713, he takes it on another step.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17He makes a link back to something else,
0:17:17 > 0:17:20something that maybe poets and painters and garden designers
0:17:20 > 0:17:24should be aspiring to, which is the taste of the ancients.
0:17:24 > 0:17:25He says,
0:17:25 > 0:17:30"There's certainly something in the amiable simplicity of unadorned
0:17:30 > 0:17:34"nature that spreads over the mind a more noble sort of tranquillity
0:17:34 > 0:17:36"and a loftier sensation of pleasure
0:17:36 > 0:17:40"than can be raised from the nicer scenes of art.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44"This was the taste of the ancients in their gardens.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49"How contrary to this simplicity is the modern practice of gardening?
0:17:49 > 0:17:52"We seem to make it our study to recede from nature."
0:17:52 > 0:17:55So again, he's talking about receding from nature,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58Addison's talking about deviating from nature,
0:17:58 > 0:17:59but Pope takes it a step further.
0:17:59 > 0:18:05He's saying it's actually about more than just gardening,
0:18:05 > 0:18:09that what we want to be replicating in our outdoor spaces is something
0:18:09 > 0:18:12that's more like this sort of history painting,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14these wonderful works like the Poussin,
0:18:14 > 0:18:19Et In Arcadia Ego, where it's man and nature in harmony,
0:18:19 > 0:18:22everything's loose, everything's idyllic.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And also, going back to the taste of the ancients -
0:18:25 > 0:18:28in their poetry - going back to Virgil,
0:18:28 > 0:18:32going back to pastoral poems that, looking at those exemplars,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35we should be making that happen in our gardens as well.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37So it's a whole philosophy.
0:18:37 > 0:18:41Exactly. It's a whole philosophy, and I think people nowadays tend to
0:18:41 > 0:18:43separate out these things -
0:18:43 > 0:18:46art, painting, literature - from gardening.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49In this time, it was serious stuff.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50It was about taste,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55it was about creating vistas in the landscape that were like living
0:18:55 > 0:18:58paintings. So what do you want your living paintings to look like?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01Do you want them all clipped and constrained and cut with scissors,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04or do you want them to go back to this taste of the ancients?
0:19:04 > 0:19:06- Let nature breathe.- Exactly.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17- All right, hold on. - OK, we're nearly there.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27- Right.- Right.- Let's go.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Pope and Addison's comments in the newspapers were dismissive of formal
0:19:31 > 0:19:35gardens like those at Hampton Court and suggested that people should
0:19:35 > 0:19:37create gardens to look natural and classical.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39I will see you later.
0:19:39 > 0:19:40See you later!
0:19:43 > 0:19:47So why was Alexander Pope, an 18th-century poet,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50writing so scathingly about formal gardens?
0:19:50 > 0:19:53And where does he fit into our story?
0:19:54 > 0:19:58Pope was part of a new progressive literary set, the Augustans.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00Known for their satire and wit,
0:20:00 > 0:20:03they were obsessed by the work of Virgil and Homer.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07To find out more about Pope, I'm meeting Ross Wilson,
0:20:07 > 0:20:09an expert in 18th-century literature...
0:20:09 > 0:20:10- Hi, Ross.- Hello.
0:20:10 > 0:20:14..in a pub in Twickenham that Pope may have visited himself.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18I can't believe we're sat possibly where Alexander Pope would have sat.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Indeed, yeah. He didn't live far away from here.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22So where the great mind sat.
0:20:22 > 0:20:23Indeed, yeah, yeah.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26He really was the most successful poet certainly of the first half
0:20:26 > 0:20:28of the 18th century.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30There's particular poems that he's famous for, isn't he?
0:20:30 > 0:20:32What are his really big ones?
0:20:32 > 0:20:33That's right. It's fair to say
0:20:33 > 0:20:37that many people today wouldn't necessarily know
0:20:37 > 0:20:39of Pope's works directly,
0:20:39 > 0:20:41but it's almost certain that they would have heard
0:20:41 > 0:20:42some of Pope's lines.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46So, the line "Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind", of course,
0:20:46 > 0:20:50lent a title to a film.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52"A little learning is a dangerous thing" - very true.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread", and so on.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- He's such a fascinating character to me, though.- Absolutely.
0:20:58 > 0:21:00Because, to me, he symbolises
0:21:00 > 0:21:02the triumph of the underdog in many ways.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04That's right, that's right.
0:21:04 > 0:21:09He was very ill as a child and then really throughout his life.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11He contracted a disease called Pott's disease,
0:21:11 > 0:21:17so tuberculosis of the bone, which left him stunted and hunchbacked,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21afflicted by crippling shortness of breath and pains
0:21:21 > 0:21:22throughout his life.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25And he was also from a Roman Catholic family,
0:21:25 > 0:21:30which at that period had very significant disadvantages,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33so for instance Roman Catholics were barred
0:21:33 > 0:21:35from living within ten miles
0:21:35 > 0:21:37of the Cities of London and Westminster.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38I find that amazing.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42So Catholics simply could not live in the centre, they had to move out.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Pope's father moved his family from Hammersmith
0:21:45 > 0:21:46to Binfield, in Berkshire,
0:21:46 > 0:21:48to escape the anti-Catholic prejudice.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52But it enabled Pope to form an attachment to Windsor Forest,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54the subject of one of his first poems.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So Binfield is very close to Windsor Forest.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00It's in fact surrounded by Windsor Forest,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04which is one of his great early poems of 1713,
0:22:04 > 0:22:06a very important pastoral poem.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10And in terms of the importance of the pastorals, they were popular,
0:22:10 > 0:22:11were they, these poems?
0:22:11 > 0:22:13- They got a readership?- That's right,
0:22:13 > 0:22:15so really it's the pastorals, in many ways,
0:22:15 > 0:22:17which he wrote at the age of only 16,
0:22:17 > 0:22:22that launched Pope's career that make him celebrated as a poet.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28And what Pope does in those poems is really make the Thames,
0:22:28 > 0:22:33make around here a suitable setting for pastoral poetry.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36So we could say, really, that Pope's responsible for the eulogising
0:22:36 > 0:22:40of the Thames, elevating it to this almost classical status.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45Yeah, so again, his pastorals are all set on the banks of the Thames.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49And he's insistent not only in comparing the Thames
0:22:49 > 0:22:54to the eulogised rivers of classical antiquity and of Europe and so on,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56but actually saying that the Thames is more beautiful.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03Alexander Pope's work was now influencing
0:23:03 > 0:23:06other forward-thinking Augustan writers of the day,
0:23:06 > 0:23:09friends like dramatist John Gay,
0:23:09 > 0:23:11who went on to write The Beggar's Opera
0:23:11 > 0:23:13and Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Travels.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16They were known as the three Yahoos of Twickenham.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19It's wonderful, because for someone that seems to have everything
0:23:19 > 0:23:21against him - looks-wise, appearance-wise,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25but also socially and in terms of him being a Catholic -
0:23:25 > 0:23:29his celebrity is unparalleled, isn't it?
0:23:29 > 0:23:31And Pope's influence is enormous as well.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33So there are a whole host of imitators
0:23:33 > 0:23:35throughout the 18th century,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38and he comes very much to dictate the literary taste
0:23:38 > 0:23:41of the middle years of the 18th-century certainly.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43So Pope is enormously famous,
0:23:43 > 0:23:46enormously influential at this period.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Pope's love of the classics inspired him to translate
0:23:49 > 0:23:52Homer's Iliad, which earned him a huge sum of money.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56His new-found wealth enabled him to lease a house and a five-acre plot
0:23:56 > 0:23:59of land here, in Twickenham, in 1719.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03It was to become his retreat, his Tusculum as he called it,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05and the gardens became famous.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08He develops the house into this Palladian villa
0:24:08 > 0:24:10that fronts the Thames
0:24:10 > 0:24:13and has a kind of lawn leading onto the Thames.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15So what's also important, I think,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17is Pope doesn't just create
0:24:17 > 0:24:20this landscape in his imagination or in his poems,
0:24:20 > 0:24:25he invests in a plot in Twickenham on the Thames, deliberately so,
0:24:25 > 0:24:28and then cultivates it, creates...
0:24:28 > 0:24:31- That's right.- ..a poetic scene in those five acres.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Yep. And there's a considerable overlap, actually,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36between how Pope thinks about poetry
0:24:36 > 0:24:38and how he thinks about gardening,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41so the kind of unaffected simplicity,
0:24:41 > 0:24:46the free natural taste that is embodied in his garden,
0:24:46 > 0:24:49and all these things are important to Pope,
0:24:49 > 0:24:53and he's really very fond of what he's managed to achieve there.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Pope's house and gardens in Twickenham were demolished
0:25:00 > 0:25:04years ago and now a school stands on the site, but there is one
0:25:04 > 0:25:08extraordinary feature of Pope's original estate that remains.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12This road was here in the 18th century,
0:25:12 > 0:25:16but Pope had a problem because his house was on one side
0:25:16 > 0:25:19and his gardens were on the other,
0:25:19 > 0:25:21but he came up with a novel solution
0:25:21 > 0:25:25and built an underground walkway beneath the road.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36But this wasn't just a functional subway.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40What started out as a plain brick passageway was transformed by Pope
0:25:40 > 0:25:42into an imitation of a natural cavern.
0:25:51 > 0:25:56This underground passage, known as Pope's grotto, embodies his love
0:25:56 > 0:25:58of the classics.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01It's fashioned in a true Arcadian style.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Pope even wrote in one of his letters,
0:26:04 > 0:26:07"Were it to have nymphs, it would be complete in everything."
0:26:10 > 0:26:14It's estimated that, over the course of his lifetime, he embedded
0:26:14 > 0:26:19over 30 tonnes of minerals, rocks and curiosities in the walls here.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21The grotto has now fallen into disrepair,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and Angela Kidner is part of a group
0:26:24 > 0:26:27planning to restore it to its former glory.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29- Hello.- Hi!
0:26:29 > 0:26:30Angela, how lovely to see you.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33- And you.- Which way are we going? This way?- This way.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Oh, wow, so, we're in...
0:26:39 > 0:26:41We're in the north chamber.
0:26:41 > 0:26:42The north chamber.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44- Because there's a number, aren't there?- There are.
0:26:44 > 0:26:45There are two chambers,
0:26:45 > 0:26:49there's a central corridor and there's the entrance chamber,
0:26:49 > 0:26:51which we've just passed through.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53So, really, what we can see through there,
0:26:53 > 0:26:56that existing building and door, that wouldn't have been there?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59No, you would have seen a sloping green lawn,
0:26:59 > 0:27:01there would have been the river glinting,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03boats passing up and down - a very busy river -
0:27:03 > 0:27:08and the light flooding from Ham Lands on the opposite side.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10So all of this would have been quite light.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12And why did Pope build this?
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Well, the first reason was a practical one.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18He needed to get to his garden on the other side of the highway.
0:27:18 > 0:27:23The second was that he was fascinated by the classicists
0:27:23 > 0:27:30and also by the burgeoning fashion for the natural landscape,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32and so he wanted to create something
0:27:32 > 0:27:35that was a sparkling but natural cave.
0:27:35 > 0:27:42He applied stones and bits of glass and crystal to the walls
0:27:42 > 0:27:47of this place, which were to him a place of contemplation and retreat.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49Should we carry on, do some investigating?
0:27:49 > 0:27:51Yes. Just above here...
0:27:51 > 0:27:53- Oh, yeah.- ..there is an ammonite.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Oh, yes. Wow.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00- There's curiosities around every corner.- Indeed!
0:28:00 > 0:28:04So this is the south chamber, and we've got some finds here that were
0:28:04 > 0:28:05discovered 20 years ago.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09- Gosh, what a table of amazing treasures.- Table of...
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Yes. There's coral from the South Seas.
0:28:12 > 0:28:15- Yeah.- These were all gifts from people who were friends,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17or friends of friends,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20very often people who were just pleased to supply Pope with
0:28:20 > 0:28:21something for his collection,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24and he rewarded them with pineapples from his garden
0:28:24 > 0:28:26and bits of his writing.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28So a lot of them were gifted?
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- Yes.- And that does also suggest that he was quite a popular chap...
0:28:31 > 0:28:34- Very popular.- ..that people were willing to give him these things.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37Yes. I think people were following the progress of this grotto,
0:28:37 > 0:28:39and he was terribly fashionable.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42He was visited by Voltaire and Johnson and all the
0:28:42 > 0:28:44great names of the age.
0:28:45 > 0:28:47And I must show you this.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50He had weeping willows framing his garden.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52This, after he died and after the willow died,
0:28:52 > 0:28:55was brought into the grotto as a memory.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57So this is all that survives of Pope's garden, isn't it?
0:28:57 > 0:29:01It is. And in terms of the experience, then,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04there were things that he put in place to make it more dramatic
0:29:04 > 0:29:06- for his visitors, didn't he?- Yes.
0:29:06 > 0:29:11People would arrive here by boat and process up to the house through the
0:29:11 > 0:29:14garden, which was lined with statues and so on,
0:29:14 > 0:29:16and then through the grotto
0:29:16 > 0:29:19to the five acres of garden behind.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Pope tried to create classical scenes in his garden.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Mirroring techniques used in landscape painting,
0:29:25 > 0:29:29he cheated perspective and created long views and vistas.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31It was a new approach to garden design,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34and many people came to see his creation.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37And we're talking lots and lots of guests that were coming
0:29:37 > 0:29:38- through here.- Lots of guests, yes.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40He had very famous guests - like Johnson,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Swift and Gay - and he had parties of visitors who would come
0:29:44 > 0:29:47and he would show them his gardens and his grotto.
0:29:47 > 0:29:48Come this way.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51Pope discovered a passion for geology as a result of
0:29:51 > 0:29:53building the grotto.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55He continued to develop it throughout his life.
0:29:55 > 0:30:01He found a rill of the purest water which flowed through the grotto and
0:30:01 > 0:30:02diagonally out the other side.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04- Which was of great excitement. - That's hugely...
0:30:04 > 0:30:07That's hugely symbolic in an Arcadian sense, isn't it?
0:30:07 > 0:30:10- Absolutely.- The source of the water, the source of inspiration!
0:30:10 > 0:30:14- Imagination.- Am I right in thinking he had a glitter ball in here?
0:30:14 > 0:30:17I think... I think it could be called that.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22It was the orbicular globe that hung where he sat to write,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25but he's certainly pictured sitting here, at his desk,
0:30:25 > 0:30:26under his globe,
0:30:26 > 0:30:30which was alabaster with sparkling minerals
0:30:30 > 0:30:32reflecting the light from the river.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34He would close the doors at either end
0:30:34 > 0:30:37and the interior would sparkle from the light
0:30:37 > 0:30:39through the holes in the doors.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43It does sound to me like an 18th-century disco ball.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44It really does!
0:30:44 > 0:30:47And we think this is what it looked like.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50JANINA GASPS
0:31:01 > 0:31:06Strange coming out of the darkness of Pope's grotto to this.
0:31:06 > 0:31:11The Thames. And what really has struck me thinking about
0:31:11 > 0:31:15not just his poetry but what he does with his house
0:31:15 > 0:31:20in Twickenham, it's as if there is a chain reaction that begins,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23starting off with his ideas of classical Arcadia,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26and then rippling out through his social network,
0:31:26 > 0:31:28through his friends,
0:31:28 > 0:31:32to be embodied either side of this stretch of the river.
0:31:37 > 0:31:39By the early 1720s,
0:31:39 > 0:31:43there was an explosion of interest in classical themes and ideas.
0:31:43 > 0:31:46Pope's views on the natural world and garden design were
0:31:46 > 0:31:50already attracting significant attention and patronage.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55One of Pope's closest and most influential friends
0:31:55 > 0:31:57lived next door to him in Twickenham,
0:31:57 > 0:32:00and she was a member of the royal household.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12This beautiful Palladian mansion behind me is Marble Hill House.
0:32:12 > 0:32:17It was the home of King George II's mistress, Henrietta Howard.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31Esme Whittaker can tell me how Henrietta and her social set
0:32:31 > 0:32:35helped Pope's ideas spread beyond his gardens in Twickenham.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37Hello, Esme. Lovely to see you.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39Hi, nice to meet you. Welcome to Marble Hill.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42- And here she is.- Yes.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43- Henrietta Howard.- Yes.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45She's a remarkable woman.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48She actually overcame great personal adversity
0:32:48 > 0:32:52to become a very influential person in the Georgian court.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54She was part of the royal household,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58so she was a woman of the bedchamber for Princess Caroline,
0:32:58 > 0:32:59and perhaps more famously,
0:32:59 > 0:33:02she was also the mistress of the Prince Regent,
0:33:02 > 0:33:04so the future George II.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07But she was also the friends of poets and of politicians,
0:33:07 > 0:33:09and she was an architectural patron
0:33:09 > 0:33:12and a collector of art and porcelain.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14And she was known for her diplomacy.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16She was actually nicknamed the Swiss,
0:33:16 > 0:33:18which I think is an important quality
0:33:18 > 0:33:21when you are in a court that's full of kind of gossip and scandal.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26And, really, she was at the centre of the circle of poets and writers
0:33:26 > 0:33:29that really followed her to here, to Marble Hill.
0:33:29 > 0:33:33And Pope famously said that there was a greater court here now,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35at Marble Hill, than at Kensington.
0:33:35 > 0:33:38And it was a place where her friends could congregate
0:33:38 > 0:33:41and also they really kind of made use of Marble Hill when it was still
0:33:41 > 0:33:45under construction and before Henrietta had retired
0:33:45 > 0:33:46from court.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49So we know that friends such as Jonathan Swift
0:33:49 > 0:33:53christened himself chief butler and keeper of the ice house.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57And Pope had a meal here, actually, to celebrate the birth
0:33:57 > 0:34:00of a female calf from the farm at Marble Hill.
0:34:00 > 0:34:02It was sort of any excuse, I think, for a celebration.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04"A cow has been born, let's have a party."
0:34:04 > 0:34:05Exactly, exactly.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07And he writes to Henrietta
0:34:07 > 0:34:10how they celebrate with flesh and fish
0:34:10 > 0:34:13and a lettuce from a Greek island called Cos
0:34:13 > 0:34:15which obviously... Exotic at that time.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18And that the housekeeper, Mrs Susan, offered them wine,
0:34:18 > 0:34:20and it would just be rude to refuse, wouldn't it, really?
0:34:25 > 0:34:29It was very much at the heart of the Twickenham set,
0:34:29 > 0:34:32so one of the reasons why she was attracted to Twickenham
0:34:32 > 0:34:35as an area was the fact that Alexander Pope had
0:34:35 > 0:34:39already moved here, so that was one of the reasons why she decided
0:34:39 > 0:34:40to build the villa here.
0:34:40 > 0:34:44And that close relationship and friendship with Pope,
0:34:44 > 0:34:46really, it's reflected in his poetry
0:34:46 > 0:34:47but also in the fact that
0:34:47 > 0:34:50he commissioned this portrait of Henrietta.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52I think that what's very interesting as well
0:34:52 > 0:34:54is the way she's being depicted there.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58She looks so Arcadian, and she's pure, she's virtuous,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01she's beautiful, and that's how Pope saw her.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06Yeah, and this slightly informal dress, showing that it is a portrait
0:35:06 > 0:35:09for a friend, but then also quite a direct gaze.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13And I liked the way that she's posed in front of this landscape
0:35:13 > 0:35:16so we actually think it's more of an infinite vista,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18so alluding to the pastoral world of the poet.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27In the 18th century, views and vistas
0:35:27 > 0:35:30were becoming significant features in landscape design,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33drawing the eye to prominent landmarks
0:35:33 > 0:35:35and creating a sense of unity in the landscape,
0:35:35 > 0:35:39which went well beyond the boundaries of your own garden.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43John's next destination is the Great River Avenue at Ham Lands.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56This avenue, which is part of the Ham House estate,
0:35:56 > 0:35:57originally stretched
0:35:57 > 0:36:01from the river bank opposite Pope's house right up to Richmond Hill.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03It's now overgrown.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Rebecca Law and a team of volunteers are restoring the avenue back to its
0:36:09 > 0:36:1318th-century state using traditional methods sympathetic to the
0:36:13 > 0:36:15environment and in harmony with nature.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19- Hi, Rebecca.- You all right, John? - How are you?- Good.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21Well, this looks fun, but it's more than that, isn't it?
0:36:21 > 0:36:23It is indeed, yes.
0:36:23 > 0:36:25We've been doing a lot of restoration
0:36:25 > 0:36:27of historic vistas,
0:36:27 > 0:36:29avenues and the landscape,
0:36:29 > 0:36:32particularly around sort of the 18th-century sort of landscapes,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35- particularly in this area.- Come on.
0:36:35 > 0:36:36This is the Great River Avenue,
0:36:36 > 0:36:40which originally was from the view to Richmond Hill,
0:36:40 > 0:36:42which is the Royal Star & Garter,
0:36:42 > 0:36:45all the way down to what was Pope's villa in Twickenham.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50What we would like to do is at least restore that view so you can get the
0:36:50 > 0:36:52feeling and the sense of that avenue back.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00And this project especially is quite nice because it's restoring a lost
0:37:00 > 0:37:04avenue as well as doing a lot of diversity and habitat.
0:37:04 > 0:37:08So it's not just about the people, it's not just about the history,
0:37:08 > 0:37:11it's also about the wildlife.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13To avoid damaging the environment,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15the volunteers are not using any machinery.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Tom Nixon and his horse Murdoch are clearing the cut timber.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Basically, what we're doing here now is we're...
0:37:21 > 0:37:24The volunteers have already cut all this brash and put it into nice tidy
0:37:24 > 0:37:25bundles for us,
0:37:25 > 0:37:28so basically we have the choke chain on the bundle of timber now
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and we're going to hoop it into Murdoch's swingletree,
0:37:31 > 0:37:33and then we're going to take it away.
0:37:33 > 0:37:34This is Murdoch's job.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Among many more.
0:37:36 > 0:37:37OK, walk on.
0:37:37 > 0:37:38Chup! Chup!
0:37:39 > 0:37:41Good lad. Come on, son.
0:37:44 > 0:37:45Come on. Come up.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51It's very important that we think of the horse's welfare as well,
0:37:51 > 0:37:54so we don't give him too big a load to pull.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57It's most important that he trusts us that we're not going to put him
0:37:57 > 0:38:00into a dangerous area, and we never do that.
0:38:00 > 0:38:03And on your side of things, Tom, I mean, obviously this is lifetime's
0:38:03 > 0:38:06- experience, isn't it?- Yeah, I'm working with horses all my life,
0:38:06 > 0:38:08- John, to be honest with you.- Yeah.
0:38:08 > 0:38:10I've been with farm horses and forestry horses.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13Come up. Come up.
0:38:13 > 0:38:15Come up. Mind your face off them now, John.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17Come up. That's the...
0:38:17 > 0:38:18Come on, son.
0:38:19 > 0:38:20Whoa.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Stand there now. That's my boy.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26Just watching this scrub being pulled through, Tom,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28that's good for the land in itself, isn't it?
0:38:28 > 0:38:29Of course it is, John.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31The load we're pulling, the branches and the brash,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34it's opening back the brambles, it's taking them out of the way,
0:38:34 > 0:38:37it's pulling them out by the roots, and this is leaving the forest floor
0:38:37 > 0:38:40open, so come the spring time, the sunlight will get in,
0:38:40 > 0:38:41it'll bring up our wild flowers
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and hopefully a regeneration of our native oak trees.
0:38:44 > 0:38:46So, basically, everything we do is good.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Every little part of this process is great for the environment.
0:38:49 > 0:38:51Absolutely. We've been given a blank canvas to work here cos this
0:38:51 > 0:38:53woodland has been ignored for so many years,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55so it's important that we plan every step
0:38:55 > 0:38:57and work it in the proper fashion.
0:38:58 > 0:39:00Come on, son.
0:39:00 > 0:39:02Good lad.
0:39:02 > 0:39:03Walk on.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08Come up. Come up.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11Mind yourself there now, you don't get...
0:39:11 > 0:39:17- Steady.- So restoring these avenues is really going back to a 17th-,
0:39:17 > 0:39:2018th-century plan, isn't it? There's nothing random about these.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22No, no, these avenues were laid out
0:39:22 > 0:39:25to link together the different villas and estates,
0:39:25 > 0:39:29so Ham House, obviously it's a very important...
0:39:29 > 0:39:30was an important estate.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32You have Marble Hill over on the other side,
0:39:32 > 0:39:35then you've got Hampton Court Palace further down.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39And there were several smaller villas privately owned
0:39:39 > 0:39:41that dotted the riverside,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45and these avenues were that connection between those estates
0:39:45 > 0:39:49for people to walk through and enjoy.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51So it's using the river as that
0:39:51 > 0:39:55connecting corridor to bounce the different parks and gardens and the
0:39:55 > 0:39:59- elements across.- It is that wonderful feeling of being out
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- in the wild in the city, isn't it? - It is. I mean, that's what we...
0:40:02 > 0:40:06It's that Arcadian history and that Arcadian feel
0:40:06 > 0:40:08that we really want to show.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Whoa.
0:40:11 > 0:40:12Who's a good boy?
0:40:12 > 0:40:14HE WHISPERS
0:40:14 > 0:40:16That's the lad.
0:40:21 > 0:40:24Back in Marble Hill on the other side of the river,
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I'm discovering more about the 18th-century origins
0:40:27 > 0:40:29of the Arcadian Thames.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32It wasn't only landscape design that was being revolutionised at this
0:40:32 > 0:40:35time, it was also architecture
0:40:35 > 0:40:38that was being influenced by the classics.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Let's just take you into the Great Room
0:40:40 > 0:40:43- and we can have a look at the Panini paintings.- Fantastic!
0:40:43 > 0:40:45I love Panini. Oh, wow.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46Well, this is it, isn't it?
0:40:46 > 0:40:51This is the classical tradition being fantastically realised
0:40:51 > 0:40:54by the 18th-century imagination.
0:40:54 > 0:40:56Yes. And these works were painted
0:40:56 > 0:40:58by Giovanni Paolo Panini
0:40:58 > 0:41:01in Rome in 1738,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04so these are very much imaginary views.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06So Rome didn't actually look like this.
0:41:06 > 0:41:09This was very much a construct on the part of the artist to show,
0:41:09 > 0:41:12to highlight all those kind of well-known features.
0:41:12 > 0:41:17And they were very fashionable at the time as a type of souvenir for
0:41:17 > 0:41:20English gentlemen who were going on the Grand Tour.
0:41:20 > 0:41:21Glorified postcards, really.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25- Yeah.- But they're summing up what the Grand Tour is all about,
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- aren't they?- Yeah, so the Grand Tour is basically
0:41:28 > 0:41:31the name that was given to these travels in Europe.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33So it often followed a set route.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36So the ultimate aim, really, was to go and visit Italy,
0:41:36 > 0:41:38and in particular to go to Rome,
0:41:38 > 0:41:41and it was very much seen as a prerequisite
0:41:41 > 0:41:43of a young gentleman's education.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46So it was a chance to learn languages,
0:41:46 > 0:41:48learn about art and architecture,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51and also it was a great opportunity to shop.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54So they bought classical statuary and paintings
0:41:54 > 0:41:56and even fans and perfume.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58And Lord Burlington,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01who owns Chiswick House, it's known that when he came back
0:42:01 > 0:42:03from his first Grand Tour,
0:42:03 > 0:42:08he actually brought 878 trunks of purchases back with him.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11- That's some serious shopping, my goodness!- Serious shopping.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16The Grand Tour was not only an excuse for young gentlemen
0:42:16 > 0:42:19to shop and visit ancient ruins,
0:42:19 > 0:42:22it also introduced them to the works of Andrea Palladio,
0:42:22 > 0:42:24a 16th-century Italian architect.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Inspired by the buildings of ancient Rome,
0:42:28 > 0:42:31he developed a theory of ideal proportions in buildings
0:42:31 > 0:42:33known as Palladianism.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Early designs at the Marble Hill were by the architect Colen Campbell
0:42:37 > 0:42:42who was one of the key promoters of the Palladian style in Britain.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45And he published a work called Vitruvius Britannicus
0:42:45 > 0:42:48which was a survey of the national architecture,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51but in the introduction of it, he's really promoting Palladio.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55And actually, the early design for Marble Hill features in the third
0:42:55 > 0:42:56edition of this book.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59And this symmetry of Palladian architecture
0:42:59 > 0:43:02and its classical origins perfectly match the emerging taste
0:43:02 > 0:43:04for the naturalised landscape garden.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07Am I right in thinking that it's actually Pope,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10with the royal gardener Charles Bridgeman,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12who designed Henrietta's garden?
0:43:12 > 0:43:13Yes, that's correct.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17So we know that Pope and Bridgeman and Henrietta all met on-site here,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21at Marble Hill, in 1724 in order to plan the gardens.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25Was it designed along similar lines to Pope's garden, then?
0:43:25 > 0:43:28There certainly were some similar features. For example, we know that
0:43:28 > 0:43:30she had a grotto, actually two grottoes.
0:43:30 > 0:43:32It had serpentine paths
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and also these wonderful terraced lawns running down to the Thames.
0:43:41 > 0:43:43Henrietta was not the only friend to be inspired by Pope
0:43:43 > 0:43:46and the classical landscapes of the past.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50Lord Burlington was a great patron of the arts.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53He had the money and influence to experiment with architecture
0:43:53 > 0:43:56and garden design on a grand scale.
0:43:56 > 0:43:57Known as the Architect Earl,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01he's credited with bringing Palladian architecture to Britain.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04Burlington took the Palladian revival very seriously,
0:44:04 > 0:44:08so he actually went on a second Grand Tour to Italy
0:44:08 > 0:44:11specifically to study Palladio's buildings.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15And he also started to acquire Palladio's drawings.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18So he amassed this wonderful library of drawings which he could use
0:44:18 > 0:44:22as a reference tool when he was designing his villa, Chiswick House.
0:44:22 > 0:44:26And he was able to basically promote the style much more widely by using
0:44:26 > 0:44:29his influence to secure places through his proteges,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32so the likes of the designer William Kent,
0:44:32 > 0:44:34which meant that the style could be disseminated
0:44:34 > 0:44:36much more widely and become a national style.
0:44:36 > 0:44:38Absolutely, and that's why when we still walk down
0:44:38 > 0:44:39our high streets today,
0:44:39 > 0:44:42you will see this classically inspired architecture.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46- It's all coming from around here at that moment.- It is, yes.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55I've come to Chiswick House
0:44:55 > 0:44:58to see Lord Burlington's creation for myself -
0:44:58 > 0:45:00a classical Palladian villa set
0:45:00 > 0:45:03in one of the last remaining early examples of
0:45:03 > 0:45:05an English landscape garden.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09The gardens here at Chiswick House were designed by Lord Burlington,
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Charles Bridgeman and William Kent.
0:45:12 > 0:45:16They are believed by many to be a grander version of Alexander Pope's
0:45:16 > 0:45:18gardens in Twickenham.
0:45:18 > 0:45:23But what a long way garden design had come in just over 20 years,
0:45:23 > 0:45:26from the formal gardens at Hampton Court to this.
0:45:32 > 0:45:33John Watkins is a specialist
0:45:33 > 0:45:37in the origins of the English landscape movement.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40John, we are here in Chiswick,
0:45:40 > 0:45:42but what is it that's so important
0:45:42 > 0:45:44about the landscape, the gardens here,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47in terms of English landscape design?
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I think most important is its influence
0:45:50 > 0:45:52and the fact that it's still here.
0:45:52 > 0:45:53Lord Burlington,
0:45:53 > 0:45:56being a member of the House of Lords and having his properties near
0:45:56 > 0:46:01London, was in a very good position to be able to influence his set
0:46:01 > 0:46:04and influence people who are interested
0:46:04 > 0:46:06in architecture and landscape.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08And he gathered around him...
0:46:09 > 0:46:14..artists, playwrights, architects and most importantly gardeners.
0:46:14 > 0:46:17So, Lord Burlington is the patron, but who's actually here,
0:46:17 > 0:46:21on the ground, doing the design of it?
0:46:21 > 0:46:24So, Bridgeman probably was the first person to aid
0:46:24 > 0:46:26some of the initial designs here.
0:46:26 > 0:46:30But two other key people were Pope and Kent.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32In fact, what is interesting,
0:46:32 > 0:46:38Burlington met Kent in Italy, and I think it's that strong influence of
0:46:38 > 0:46:43Italian gardens of ancient Rome that influenced, in particular,
0:46:43 > 0:46:47the early phases and also the latter phases of the gardens here.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50And Kent was hugely important
0:46:50 > 0:46:53because he was able to illustrate
0:46:53 > 0:46:55both what was in his mind
0:46:55 > 0:46:58but also what was in Pope's mind and also Burlington's.
0:46:58 > 0:47:03Burlington inherited the original estate at Chiswick in 1715
0:47:03 > 0:47:05and started work on the gardens soon after.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09However, it wasn't until the late 1720s that Kent,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12Burlington and others started to soften the design,
0:47:12 > 0:47:13reducing its formality.
0:47:17 > 0:47:18- If we look at this plan here... - Yeah.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22..what we can see is the original garden here,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25on the north side of the image,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27and there you can see very, very formal features.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31You've got groves, you've got single avenues,
0:47:31 > 0:47:32you've got the goose foot.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34And if we look just south of the house,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37you see a very formal lawn in this plan, with a maze here.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39Towards the end of his life,
0:47:39 > 0:47:41the hedges and the trees were removed.
0:47:41 > 0:47:45This became an informal lawn with a view over the lake.
0:47:45 > 0:47:50And this is where sort of Walpole described that Kent jumped the fence
0:47:50 > 0:47:53- and saw that all nature was a garden.- Oh, I love that!- Yeah.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02If you think that that simple lawn influenced
0:48:02 > 0:48:04many of the great gardens,
0:48:04 > 0:48:08and Capability Brown took that idea and did it on a grand scale
0:48:08 > 0:48:09right the way round the country...
0:48:09 > 0:48:13And you go to places like Central Park in New York,
0:48:13 > 0:48:15those ideas are then taken further.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18Let's go and see the transition from the formal to the informal.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31And, of course, there's a lovely link with these obelisks -
0:48:31 > 0:48:33because there's two obelisks here -
0:48:33 > 0:48:35and the great importance of Pope.
0:48:35 > 0:48:37You've got the obelisk that he built
0:48:37 > 0:48:39in his garden to commemorate his mother.
0:48:39 > 0:48:42Pope was a poet. How was he influencing garden design?
0:48:42 > 0:48:46If you think he was a great poet, an ideas man...
0:48:46 > 0:48:48And Pope was a romantic,
0:48:48 > 0:48:52and of course gardens are the ultimate romantic feature.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57And so, as a very enthusiastic amateur garden designer,
0:48:57 > 0:49:00he was taking ideas that he had in his mind
0:49:00 > 0:49:02and trying them out at home.
0:49:02 > 0:49:06And his influence is...is massive
0:49:06 > 0:49:09because bigger practical people
0:49:09 > 0:49:12then took his ideas and developed them further.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15You add in Burlington, you add in Kent,
0:49:15 > 0:49:17and you've got the ideal recipe.
0:49:17 > 0:49:19Then the challenge is saying,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21where does one influence come in and one finish?
0:49:21 > 0:49:24That is what is so fascinating.
0:49:24 > 0:49:27And yet, I suppose, at the heart of all of it is that shared ideal
0:49:27 > 0:49:28of Arcadia.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30Yes, that's what links it all together.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39For centuries, European formality
0:49:39 > 0:49:43had been imported in to English gardens,
0:49:43 > 0:49:45like those at Hampton Court.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48But in less than three decades,
0:49:48 > 0:49:52ideas of what comprised a beautiful landscape
0:49:52 > 0:49:55had changed beyond all recognition.
0:50:05 > 0:50:08The English landscape garden style was rapidly adopted
0:50:08 > 0:50:11in gardens of great houses throughout the country,
0:50:11 > 0:50:13as baroque formality was replaced
0:50:13 > 0:50:17by gardens created to look pastoral and natural.
0:50:17 > 0:50:18Arcadian.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25Jason. I'm John.
0:50:25 > 0:50:26What a place to meet!
0:50:26 > 0:50:29- This is real Aladdin's cave, isn't it?- It is wonderful, isn't it?
0:50:29 > 0:50:31This is Richmond Bridge Boathouse,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34where so many of these incredible wooden boats that characterise
0:50:34 > 0:50:36this part of the Thames are made.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38MOTOR REVS
0:50:42 > 0:50:45Jason Debney, a landscape historian,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48and his skipper have offered to take John to one of the last remaining
0:50:48 > 0:50:5218th-century Arcadian landscapes on the Thames.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01Jason, you're a landscape historian, what does that entail?
0:51:01 > 0:51:04Being a landscape historian in this part of the world is about
0:51:04 > 0:51:08understanding how the landscape developed historically,
0:51:08 > 0:51:11understanding how this glorious landscape got to where it is,
0:51:11 > 0:51:13but finding ways to take it into the future.
0:51:13 > 0:51:17Most people think being a historian is about the past but,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19in a landscape such as this, it's not.
0:51:19 > 0:51:20It's all about the future.
0:51:25 > 0:51:26This is Syon Reach,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30a stretch of the Thames bordered by two of the most significant designed
0:51:30 > 0:51:32landscapes in Britain -
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Kew Gardens on one side and Syon Park on the other.
0:51:37 > 0:51:41The landscape at Syon was designed by William Kent's protege,
0:51:41 > 0:51:43Lancelot Brown,
0:51:43 > 0:51:45better known as Capability Brown.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52It's the only remaining natural river bank in Greater London.
0:51:55 > 0:51:57We now coming to Syon House over here.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01The meadows here flood twice a day, don't they, Jason?
0:52:01 > 0:52:04They do, yeah. That's one of the things that makes it so special.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06It depends on the state of the tide.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09Because different tides have different heights, obviously,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12throughout the month.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14And that creates a very special landscape,
0:52:14 > 0:52:18in the way that on very high spring tides all of the meadow is inundated
0:52:18 > 0:52:22- with water.- So it's forcing its way down these creeks and channels.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25It is, yeah, covering most of the meadow in there.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29What that has given us is a progression of different habitats,
0:52:29 > 0:52:32moving from the dry land through to the wetter land by the river.
0:52:32 > 0:52:36And each of those habitats has a different types of species on it -
0:52:36 > 0:52:40so the species that love the wetter habitat down by the river
0:52:40 > 0:52:43and the grassland species that like the drier habitat
0:52:43 > 0:52:45up towards the house at the top of the meadow.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47And what sorts of plants would we expect to find there?
0:52:47 > 0:52:49Well, along the river edge here,
0:52:49 > 0:52:53we've got this wonderful native reed, we've got angelica,
0:52:53 > 0:52:55water dropwort, watermint.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00And, of course, in the summer, it's just a mass of purple
0:53:00 > 0:53:03from the loosestrife that thrives along the river bank.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05But that's where it's so lovely coming along the river
0:53:05 > 0:53:06on a winter's day like this,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09because we can actually see through the line of trees
0:53:09 > 0:53:13and vegetation here so we can have a look at the meadows beyond.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Right, and what does happen beyond?
0:53:16 > 0:53:19Well, beyond the flood meadows is a classic Capability Brown landscape.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42What Capability Brown did, of course, here was to sweep away
0:53:42 > 0:53:44the formality of the baroque garden.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47It's got all the elements that you would expect over here,
0:53:47 > 0:53:49in a Capability Brown landscape.
0:53:49 > 0:53:53It's got the ha-ha. It's got temples, it's got Arcadian statues.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56We've got clumps of trees which allow us to see in
0:53:56 > 0:53:58and connect the two sides of the landscape.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01We've got flooded streams creating lakes.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03Arcadian temples.
0:54:03 > 0:54:07You name it, it is a typical Capability Brown landscape.
0:54:24 > 0:54:26What an extraordinary journey,
0:54:26 > 0:54:29from gardens designed with mathematical precision
0:54:29 > 0:54:33to landscapes created to emulate Arcadia,
0:54:33 > 0:54:34a pastoral idyll
0:54:34 > 0:54:37where man and nature coexist in harmony.
0:54:45 > 0:54:47This 12-mile stretch of the Thames
0:54:47 > 0:54:49became the focus of a cultural movement
0:54:49 > 0:54:53which changed the face of our English countryside.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55Ideas expressed in art, poetry,
0:54:55 > 0:54:58architecture and gardening had fused together,
0:54:58 > 0:55:02and the naturalised English landscape was born.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18For the first time, a designed landscape was considered
0:55:18 > 0:55:20as a collective whole,
0:55:20 > 0:55:23comprising all that the eye can see.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26Incredibly, some of the more far-reaching views,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28such as this one to St Paul's,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30are still visible today.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38And at the heart of it all is the Thames,
0:55:38 > 0:55:42eulogised and elevated by poets and painters as more beautiful
0:55:42 > 0:55:44than the rivers of antiquity.
0:55:45 > 0:55:49But there is one final place to visit before John and I finish our
0:55:49 > 0:55:53journey. And one more view to see.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57The only view in Britain protected by an act of Parliament.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59Here, on Richmond Hill.
0:56:01 > 0:56:04We're meeting Sir David Attenborough and Kim Wilkie,
0:56:04 > 0:56:07patron and founder of the Thames Landscape Strategy,
0:56:07 > 0:56:10an organisation which aims to restore and protect
0:56:10 > 0:56:13the Arcadian Thames for future generations.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16Well, I don't know quite what patrons are supposed to do,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19but whatever it is they're supposed to do, I hope I'm doing it.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24And, I mean, as a local, I am very concerned with this wonderful view.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27And if someone asks you to help preserve such a thing,
0:56:27 > 0:56:28how can you say no?
0:56:28 > 0:56:31So I help in whatever way they ask me to do.
0:56:31 > 0:56:34The strategy itself cares about the natural world.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37I mean, think of other parts of the Thames,
0:56:37 > 0:56:40where this place would be covered by skyscrapers,
0:56:40 > 0:56:41but here we've got grass.
0:56:41 > 0:56:43And we look over there, and there's more grass.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46And it's been like that for a long time, and our intention is
0:56:46 > 0:56:49it should stay like that for a long time.
0:56:49 > 0:56:50And it is definitely about that, isn't it?
0:56:50 > 0:56:53It's about creating a true relationship
0:56:53 > 0:56:56between man and nature within London.
0:56:56 > 0:57:00I think it's the notion that the river is the centre of things
0:57:00 > 0:57:03and not a divider of things.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06And that's what has been brought about.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09The English landscape movement was kind of a revolution
0:57:09 > 0:57:11in political and scientific thought
0:57:11 > 0:57:14- which started with Alexander Pope. - Yeah, yeah.
0:57:14 > 0:57:15And really started up here
0:57:15 > 0:57:20on this hill, looking out over that river and that bend in the river.
0:57:20 > 0:57:26So this stretch of the Thames is really at the complete heart
0:57:26 > 0:57:32of that whole English landscape thought and political science
0:57:32 > 0:57:34that happened at that time.
0:57:34 > 0:57:38It was a completely different way of looking at the world,
0:57:38 > 0:57:43and the idea of man in the middle of nature rather than separate from it
0:57:43 > 0:57:44had huge implications.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52Is this Arcadia?
0:57:52 > 0:57:55Well, for me it is. I've got all the advantages of the city,
0:57:55 > 0:57:56which London brings to me,
0:57:56 > 0:57:59but all the...many of the advantages of living
0:57:59 > 0:58:01where nature is still visible.
0:58:01 > 0:58:05Just to have this amount of green space,
0:58:05 > 0:58:08this natural space, in such a huge city
0:58:08 > 0:58:11is wonderful, and it's what keeps us sane,
0:58:11 > 0:58:13and that ultimately is the biggest challenge for cities
0:58:13 > 0:58:15in this coming century.
0:58:15 > 0:58:17And also, 100 years goes past very fast.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20THEY LAUGH
0:58:20 > 0:58:21Hang about!