Silk, Waterwheels, Iron and Smoke: Gardens of Industrial Improvement
29 March @ 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Georgian attitudes to the industrial were devoid of later sensibilities to the conditions of manufactories and communities during the height of the Industrial Revolution that hid such activity from view. On the contrary, the presence of the industrial in the Georgian garden aesthetic was not hidden but frequently enhanced a multi-sensory, often sublime experience. The industrial represented a further taming of Nature by the art of man within the designed landscape. The new inventions fascinated being yet another facet of the drive for improvement. Architecture, water, planting, the journey to and through the landscape, all contributed to an integration of the ornamental and industrial landscape. This talk explores how the industrial in the Georgian garden often co-existed far more than might have hitherto been considered.
