the Art and Craft of Garden Making

In 1901, Thomas Mawson (1861-1933) first published ‘The Art and Craft of Garden Making’, now regarded as the foundation of modern landscape architecture. By 1926, it had been reprinted five times. It is this book which revealed Mawson’s inspiration and gave a name to the style of work achieved by Edwin Lutyens & Gertrude Jekyll. Thomas Mawson was a prolific & influential designer who became the first president of the Institute of Landscape Architects (now Landscape Institute) in 1929. His design practice based in Windermere, in the English Lake District, prospered owing both to a wealthy clientele – brought to the area by the railway network – and to his obvious talent for design which blended architecture and horticulture. Thomas’s prolific and successful career included commissions on Graythwaite Hall, Langdale Chase, Holehird, Brockhole, Holker Hall and at Rydal Hall in 1909. He also had a considerable number of projects abroad including in Canada, America and mainland Europe.