‘Made from the Barren Wast by me’: An Industrialist’s Arcadia

A review of A Lost Landscape: Matthew Boulton’s Gardens at Soho by Phillada Ballard, Val Loggie and Shena Mason (Chichester: Phillimore, 2009), £16.99

When one thinks of the relationship between industrial complexes and designed landscapes the examples most likely to spring to mind are the late Victorian and early twentieth-century factories set within a garden, such as those owned by Bournville and Shredded Wheat. What are less well recognised are the eighteenth-century landscapes where industry was central to both the design and the experience of those walking within its bounds. At Warmley in Bristol, William Champion set his pin making factory within his domestic grounds and visitors came to experience both the sublime and spectacle of the manufacturing process and the more traditional aesthetics of the landscape with its huge sculpture of Neptune set within a lake. The close proximity of the works to the house also allowed owners like Champion and Josiah Wedgwood, at Etruria in Staffordshire, to keep a close eye on operations and on their staff. Therefore, the story of Matthew Boulton’s grounds at Soho in Birmingham, with its integral manufactory and mint, retold using detailed research in A Lost Landscape: Matthew Boulton’s Gardens at Soho by Philada Ballard, Val Loggie and Shena Mason can be seen as an important addition to the history of such industrialists and their gardens.

Boulton’s garden included many of the designed features and incidents that were popular in his day such as the Hermitage, Teahouse, Aviary, Temple and pools. These marked him out as a successful man of fashion and he created viewing lines from the manufactory so that prospective clients could be impressed by his taste and accomplishments. However, what makes it such an exciting landscape is that it was one in which science, technology and garden design coalesced. This is recounted in detail within the book.  As well as an observatory in the garden, Boulton utilised the water so that it fed both the manufactory and, via a steam engine in the Mint, it could be used to water trees and his new lawns. In fact, his latter innovation was followed by the invention of a watering machine for use in his garden in the 1770s.

As well as describing these developments in detail, the retelling of the garden’s narrative is enhanced by the inclusion of atmospheric illustrations and useful maps. Particularly delightful are the watercolours of John Phipps, which have been beautifully reproduced.  I was particularly pleased to see a chapter devoted to this artist whose work is often the only visual record of Boulton’s gardening achievements. Overall this is a fascinating insight into the creation and eventual decline of an industrialist’s arcadia which will appeal to garden, social and industrial historians alike, and ultimately it should also ensure that Boulton’s garden is better recognised and understood.

Dr Clare Hickman

Research Fellow, Historic Gardens & Landscapes of England Project

University of Bristol