Talk:Chiswick House Gardens

Charles Bridgeman
Peter Willis (p.66) made a case for Bridgeman having contributed to the design at Chiswick. His only substantive evidence was a commentary within the 1801 edition of Thomas Whateley's 'Observations', 30 years after the first edition. I can say, having gone through all relevant account books at Chatsworth, that there is no mention of Bridgeman in them. The very late date of this commentary separates it from any work that Bridgeman may have carried out by three quarters of a century. Willis was of course trying to scoop up all possible Bridgeman sites for his PhD, but even he noted that 'clearly this testimony should be treated with reserve'. So can we please see the commentary as a red herring and leave Bridgeman out of the Chiswick story? 1948dlj (talk) 10:35, 7 April 2024 (UTC)


 * Your rationale here is very close to WP:OR which is obviously forbidden here, we can't rely on editorial knowledge in any form. What we can do is use the cited sources and to confine B to a footnote. Chiswick Chap (talk) 10:42, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
 * See Jacques, p. 137, note 26, for a brief but published view on the matter. 1948dlj (talk) 10:52, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Exactly. You would cite that as (omitting the "nowiki" tags if you have this open in a text editor!). Chiswick Chap (talk) 11:08, 7 April 2024 (UTC)
 * The article is welcome, plugs a gap and is full of information. Just a few points for consideration. 1. the exedra was never called by this name until the 1950s when the architectural historians were looking for a name for this feature, though if one refers to Pliny he calls his semicircle a 'hemicycle'. 2. the three large figures are probably remnants of the famous Arundel marbles (see Jacques 19-21) whilst the other statues of Socrates etc are terminals. 3. More might be said about the planting around the cascade - it was Kent's conception of how an antique building should appear, with a shaggy backdrop, that expanded into the landscape garden. 4. Nice observation about Palladio's Vitruvian doors. 5. The funary urns were probably of Burlington's own devising, as were several of the other designs for urns around the grounds - see the Parsons notebook. 6. James Wisdom is insistent that the Bollo Brook headed east to Stamford Brook and its waters only passed through Chiswick House Gardens when it overflowed. The ditch/stream through them starts in the low ground behind Strand-on-the-Green, passes north of Sutton Court into the pool shown on Rocque, then along the River, under Burlington Lane, then headed east to exit into the Thames close to Chiswick church. Of course nowadays it is channelled along the culvert to the flap on the Thames. 1948dlj (talk) 09:49, 27 April 2024 (UTC)
 * Yes, there is plentiful scope for correction, addition, and (especially) citation. The existence of Jacques 2022 means that reliable sourcing is now readily available. Please feel free to go ahead with improvements. If you could use the citation form that would be much appreciated. Chiswick Chap (talk) 09:53, 27 April 2024 (UTC)