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William Shenstone, The Leasowes, and Landscape Gardening

1714 - 1763 (c.)

William Shenstone was born in 1714 and died in 1763. His fame rests on his reputation as a poet and landscape gardener. His estate at the Leasowes (pronounced “lezzoes”) at Halesowen, near Dudley, which he transformed into a cultural phenomenon, attracted visitors from home and abroad. This article explores Shenstone’s impact on the Leasowes and his place in the tradition of English garden design and the cult of the “natural” landscape.

Shenstone lived during a time of rapid industrialisation, but he pays little attention to the mines, glass works, forges and foundries which were operating close to his property, though he travelled locally and was well-acquainted with at least two local entrepreneurs, John Baskerville and Matthew Boulton. Written by a local researcher, this article is accompanied by 18th and early 19th century images to illustrate the text.

Sections: 

9. The Reputation of the Leasowes
10. Appreciating the Landscape: Robert Dodsley and the Leasowes
11. A “delightful Paradise”: the Leasowes Cult
12. “Beauty and Simplicity”: Descriptions of the Leasowes
13. Shenstone’s Influence
14. Shenstone and the Locality
15. Conclusion


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Image creators: Portrait bust of William Shenstone (1714-1763) from the Frontispiece of The Works in Verse and Prose of William Shenstone, Esq., Vol. I, Second Edition (London, J Dodsley, 1765).


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1345-0William Shenstone, The Leasowes, and Landscape Gardening 1358-0Introduction: William Shenstone and the Leasowes 1828-0Shenstone’s Early Life 1350-0Shenstone, Poetry and Landscape 1353-0Shenstone, Rural Virtues and the Countryside 1824-0Shenstone and English Landscape Gardening 1360-0Shenstone and the Creation of the Natural Landscape 1361-0Shenstone, Landscape and Farming 1348-0Shenstone’s Embellishments to the Leasowes The Reputation of the LeasowesThe Reputation of the Leasowes 1364-0Appreciating the Landscape: Robert Dodsley and the Leasowes A “delightful Paradise”: The Leasowes CultA “delightful Paradise”: The Leasowes Cult “Beauty and Simplicity”: Descriptions of the Leasowes“Beauty and Simplicity”: Descriptions of the Leasowes Shenstone’s InfluenceShenstone’s Influence 1822-0Shenstone and the Locality ConclusionConclusion
Sources and Further Reading

Shenstone, William, The Letters of William Shenstone, Arranged and Edited with introduction, Notes and Index by Marjorie Williams (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1939. Shenstone, William, The Works in Verse and Prose of William Shenstone, Esq., Vols.I, II and III, Second Edition (London, J Dodsley, 1765). Dixon Hunt, John, The Figure in the Landscape: Poetry, Painting, and Gardening during the Eighteenth Century (Baltimore and London, The Johns Hopkins University Press,1976, 1989). Hyams, Edward, Capability Brown and Humphry Repton (J.M.Dent & Sons Ltd, London, 1971). McKee, Robert Andrew, A Commentary of the life and Works of William Shenstone(University of Birmingham PhD Thesis, 1976). Monro Purkis, E, William Shenstone, Poet and Landscape Gardener (Wolverhampton, Whitehead Brothers Ltd., 1931). Somers, F and K M, Halas, Hales, Halesowen (Halesowen, H Parkes Ltd, 1932).