Richardson, Tim – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk Henley-on-Thames Wed, 20 Aug 2025 12:50:40 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-Bell-Background-Blue-32x32.png Richardson, Tim – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk 32 32 The English landscape garden https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/the-english-landscape-garden/ Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/?post_type=product&p=44103 The English Landscape Garden is a beautifully photographed celebration of the best of the 18th century English landscape garden - a quintessentially British art form that influenced the rest of the world.]]> Smooth lawns, glassy pools, cool garden temples, mysterious woodland glades, evocative statuary … the 18th-century English landscape garden offers a transcendent vision of Arcadia, a world of rich escapism peopled by gods and goddesses, young lovers and dairymaids, poets and philosophers.

This sumptuous, beautifully photographed volume celebrates this quintessentially British creation, arguably its greatest artform, taking you on a tour of 20 of the finest surviving gardens, including:

  • Studley Royal (Yorkshire), a dreamy valley garden which culminates with a view down and across the ruins of a Cistercian abbey
  • Stowe (Buckinghamshire), the great politically motivated garden of its day, boasting the ensemble masterpiece that is William Kent’s Elysian Fields
  • Chiswick House (London), Lord Burlington’s experiment in neoclassical architecture
  • Petworth (Sussex) – of ‘Capability’ Brown, who eschewed the symbolism of earlier generations but created instead his own powerful vision of pastoral Arcadia
  • Hawkstone Park (Shropshire), designed to elicit a thrill of fear in visitors as they traverse rocky precipices and encounter live hermits

Including much new research and specially commissioned photographs, this is a book to dive into and be transported to an idyllic dream realm.

]]> Sissinghurst: The Dream Garden https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/sissinghurst-the-dream-garden/ Tue, 01 Sep 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/sissinghurst-the-dream-garden/ In SISSINGHURST: A DREAM GARDEN Tim Richardson reveals the magic and the mystery of these world-famous and most evocative English gardens, famous for their horticulture, their creators and the realisation of personal dreams.]]> Step inside Sissinghurst, the world’s most famous garden, and understand the strength of its attraction in this beautiful, once in a generation study.

Since is was bought and transformed by writer Vita Sackville-West and diplomat Harold Nicolson in the 1930s, Sissinghurst has captured imaginations with its  unique and intricate design. From first sight of the Castle Tower to the magic of the world-famous White Garden, this garden of rooms and experiences, memories and emotions is the most evocative of places. Today, it is one the National Trust’s most popular destinations and, under the lead of head gardener Troy Scott Smith, Sissinghurst is influential for its design, its exuberant planting, and its effect on visitors as a complete garden experience. Its fascination endures and matures, captivating with its intimacy, romance and history.

In this definitive book, Tim Richardson explores the power and magic of Sissinghurst, explaining the nuances of its evolution and showing how we can all enjoy it today. With beautiful photography from Jason Ingram and a foreword from leading garden designer Dan Pearson, this is the must-have book for any garden lover.  

]]>