Person    | Male  Born /8/1716  Died 6/2/1783

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

Categories: Gardens / Agriculture

Landscapte architect. Baptised in Northumberland. The 'Capability' came from his habit of declaring estates to have 'capability' for improvement, rather than being a description of his skills. Nowadays it would be 'Potential', or Potty to his friends, possibly. Worked on hundreds of gardens, turning down work in Ireland because he had not yet finished England. A skilled user of the ha-ha. The gardens at Blenheim Palace are a good example of his work.

Worked with the architect Henry Holland and then from about 1771 with his son, also Henry who, in 1773 married Brown's daughter,Bridget (1744–1828).

Lived at The Mall, Hammersmith from 1751 - 1764 when he moved to Wilderness House, where the plaque is, and where he died, possibly. Reading Wikipedia and the Oxford Dictionary of National Bigraphy one gets two stories of his death. The other being that he died at Bridget's house in Hertford Street.

2016: English Heritage's post - Capability Brown: the man who changed English landscapes forever.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

Commemorated ati

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, 1716 - 1783, landscape architect lived here, 176...

Read More

Other Subjects

River Effra

River Effra

At the Brockwell Lido plaque there is an information board which begins by explaining the function of stink pipes: "What is a stink pipe? The lofty green pipe behind you is a Victorian stink pipe, ...

Place, Gardens / Agriculture

17 memorials
Onyx Environmental Trust

Onyx Environmental Trust

We think this group is now (2015) called Veolia.

Group, Community / Clubs, Gardens / Agriculture, Philanthropy

1 memorial
Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

Bunhill Fields Burial Ground

Nonconformists burial ground.  Enclosed with a brick wall by the City of London in 1665; gates added 1666. Closed in 1852 by which time it held more than 120,000 bodies.  In 1865, to preserve the ...

Place, Gardens / Agriculture, Religion

1 memorial
Harold Ainsworth Peto

Harold Ainsworth Peto

Born in Suffolk, son of Sir Samuel.

Person, Architecture, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial
Friends of Norwood Grove

Friends of Norwood Grove

Active in 1986 but it seems dormant now, 2022.

Group, Community / Clubs, Gardens / Agriculture

1 memorial