Pleasure gardens were beautifully landscaped and planted parks for recreation and entertainment.
The Regency style drama Netflix Bridgerton transports viewers to London’s most famous – Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens.
For nearly two centuries, the pleasure gardens were frequented by everyone from royalty to the masses to relax and rejuvenate. Amusements ranged from theatre, opera, concerts, supper booths, art, rides, menageries, fireworks to spaces for socialising – including ‘dark walks’ for amorous encounters.
These tantalising escapes from the mundane are long gone but the idea of creating a contemporary outdoor space dedicated to entertaining and to being entertained is just as thrilling…
Creating the Sense of Going ‘Out’
Paula and Chris set about renovating their town house garden in 2020 in a contemporary style that was ultra-low maintenance.
They enlisted the help of garden designer Tom Gadsby of Structured Growth Garden Designs and Pip at PW Landscapes to bring their vision for a more social space they could enjoy year-round with family and friends to life.
The couple were visiting Malvern Garden Buildings’ Buckinghamshire showsite when they spotted the open-sided Studio Pavilion on display and were taken with the quirky gin bar set up as well as the covered outdoor space.
The Brief
Entertainment was at the core of the design brief. The idea of the Regency-era pleasure garden was to showcase the landscape with beautiful features and awe-inspiring views. Much like the traditional pleasure gardens, the finished design in Paula and Chris’ garden boasts a water feature with a stream running down the tiered terrace.
Tom and the team worked with the land which was on a gentle slope and kept in mind the types of entertaining Paula and Chris might do. Tom’s approach is to examine the space and aspect of the garden and nurture the ‘spirit of the place’.
As well as being a place of leisure, Tom wanted to make the design of the garden work hard ensuring both the main views and sometimes unexpected views from the house take in the best of the garden.
The garden building sits at perimeter wall of the garden. From the back door of Paula and Chris’s home, the focal point is an existing apple tree, whilst through the French doors of the sitting room they look up a “rill” with the water trickling down from a beautiful Amelanchier lamarkii – Tom’s tree of choice for small gardens.
The Finished Design
The garden is now a modern, crisp and low maintenance haven that has come into its own during lockdowns:
“We used it a lot. It gave us a sense of ‘going out’ even when we couldn’t leave our home” Paula tells us.
“We have a TV and a bar in it and comfy seats in the inside and outside areas. Over the years we’ve used it for graduation celebrations, a 50th birthday celebration… we also used the outside space when we were allowed to have 6 people mixing, to make Christmas wreaths.
The lads like to use the space for gaming and to watch the football. The girls like to pretend they’re ‘out out’ whilst drinking Prosecco and cocktails. We’ve had Raclette evenings out there too.”
