Corsham Court Gardens

The historic Corsham Court dates from 1582 and is set next to a beautiful parkland a few minutes walk from Corsham High Street.

The original Elizabethan house was bought by Paul Methuen in 1745 with the idea of enlarging it to accommodate the art collection of his cousin Sir Paul Methuen, the famous diplomat. Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was introduced in 1760 to do this work whilst also designing a landscape to be seen from the new Picture Gallery windows, which would harmonise with the arcadian scenery in the pictures.
Brown used sunken ditches and ha-has to create barriers that didn't break up his grand views and designed a lake to the east of the house, though this was finished by Humphrey Repton in the 1790s. He also planted specimen trees like the Oriental Plane on the North Lawn, which is now recognised as the largest spreading tree in Britain. Brown's Bath House, also in the gardens, was later gothicised by John Nash but stands testament to the fashion of cold plunges in the Georgian period.

The gardens today extend to some 10 acres, with a 15 acre arboretum, and include many herbaceous borders and spring bulbs. More formal areas like the Lily Pond garden were created by the First Lady Methuen in the Victorian era and feature exotic indian bean trees, as well as spreading wisteria and a more recently added hornbeam alley. Further work is being done to enhance the Rose and Stream Gardens.
The North, East and South Lawns of the house are framed by mature specimen trees such as copper beeches, horse chestnuts and turkey oak. The extensive yew hedge, which frames the South Lawn, was planted in the 1840s and is cut in a 'cloud' form."