Renishaw Hall Garden

Sir George Sitwell designed an Italian garden for the family seat c1890. He later wrote a book On the Making of Gardens. Sitwell admired Reginald Blomfield and hoped to improve English gardens by learning from his visits to over 200 Italian gardens. He was the father of Edith, Osbert and Sacheverell Sitwell. The Renishaw design has steps, terraces and pools. It is good by the standard of Italian gardens in England but does not match the gardens of Italy in quality. Sir George did not have enough experience of design and lacked sufficiently skilled craftsmen to call upon. In plan terms Renishaw is an example of the Landscape Style with a transition 'from formality to informality'.