Capability Brown Festival kicks off 300th anniversary celebrations

Capability Brown Festival kicks off 300th anniversary celebrations

The Milton Abbey landscape designed by Capability Brown
The Milton Abbey landscape designed by Capability Brown Milton Abbey
He created the international image of a quintessential English garden, shaped more than 250 landscapes and one of his creations had a starring role in Downton Abbey.

Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown left a remarkable legacy and this year, 300 years since his birth, hundreds of events will take place across the country to celebrate.

Led by the Landscape Institute and supported by a £911,100 grant made possible by National Lottery players, the Capability Brown Festival will run from March to October 2016. It will bring together for the first time more than 60 of the sites he helped to shape.

Landscapes large and small will get involved in events including:

  • Afternoon Capabili-Teas inspired by authentic Georgian recipes
  • Major exhibitions featuring never-seen-before drawings by Capability Brown
  • Poems, dances and performances inspired by his landscapes
  • Guided walks of the landscape of Tong Castle, almost lost beneath the M54 motorway
  • Sensory trails to enable disabled young people to explore new landscapes

Jim Dixon, HLF Trustee, said: “Without Capability Brown we wouldn’t have the image of the quintessential English garden and without National Lottery players we wouldn’t be able to spend this year celebrating his incredible legacy.

"The Festival offers a unique opportunity to bring landscapes across the country together to celebrate the man who shaped them and create new opportunities for people to access the sites and his story. We’re delighted to support this project and look forward to what promises to be an exciting year.”

For more information and to find an event near you visit the Capability Brown website.

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