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The English lawn is a true wonder which has served various functions over the last few centuries. Nowadays, with most English homeowners tending to their own lawns, it is easy to forget that the origins of this most English tradition began on a much grander scale. The careful manicuring of lawns, the act of which began around the 16th century, was originally inspired by Italian landscape paintings. Seeing what their neighbours were doing, the English aristocracy decided to prove their place amongst the wealthy and powerful by trying to maintain an excellent turf.
The English lawn came to prominence over Europe in the 17th century, when it was noticed that neat lawns were maintained for social occasions. Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman are credited with leading the high standards at the time. They were also responsible for Royal gardens such as Hyde Park, Hampton Court and Kensington Palace. Their work laid the foundations for 18th-century landscape gardening which was to elavate England’s prominence and reputation in the garden even further.
Not before long, Jacobean noblemen saw the grass as a valuable opportunity to assert their superiority and power. In an effort to impress, they employed men to perform the very labour-intensive and skilful cropping of pastoral land. Before the days of lawnmowers, the labourers used scythes to hack at the grass which was obsessively maintained. The desired outcome was a very immaculate-looking smooth layer of turf without a single tuft out of place.
Thus, the role of grass had been lifted from merely a functional plot of land for cattle to graze on to an exhibition of wealth, where for the first time gardens were used for something other than food or land. Most people at the time barely had land for food, so this was viewed by many as a grotesque display of luxury.
Grass size was not only maintained by human hands. It was quickly discovered that an impeccable lawn could be developed by forcing sheep or horses to keep grazing in specific areas. Thus, the wealthy decided to cultivate pasture land which would be maintained by livestock, significantly easier than human labour. Such lawns are still maintained today.
The 18th century arrived and with it, the introduction of landscape gardening, led by ‘Capability’ Brown and architect William Kent. The two spearheaded a prolific campaign of beautifully landscaped gardens, which can still be seen today on the grounds of many gardens including Warwick Castle, Blenheim Palace and a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/croome/features/visit-the-walled-garden-at-croome" target="_blank">Croome Court.
Eventually, immaculately kept lawns made their way out of the lands of noblemen. This was largely due to the invention of the lawnmower in 1830. As English-invented turf-based sports grew in prominence, so did the English lawn. The reputation of the English lawn then made its way around the globe.
As the English middle-class began to move away from cities into sprawling suburban areas, they developed gardens full of flower beds, water features and vegetable patches. As the garden became a lot more common, its social status was diluted and the exclusivity of the immaculate English lawn slowly faded away over time.
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