William Emes (1729 or 1730–13 March 1803) was an English

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

er.

Biography

Details of his early life are not known but in 1756 he was appointed head gardener to Sir Nathaniel Curzon at

Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house, and seat of the Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village of Kedleston was moved in 1759 by Nathaniel Curzon to mak ...

, Derbyshire. He left this post in 1760 when

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

was given responsibility for the entire management of the grounds. During his time at Kedleston he had started to alter the earlier formal nature of the park and had constructed the upper lake. Also during this time he married Mary Innocent, who was his servant and the daughter of a tailor. Together they had five sons and three daughters.Goodway, K "Emes, William (1729/30–1803)", rev., ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'',

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...

, 2004
accessed 30 January 2007
/ref> His son

John Emes John Emes (1762–1810) was a British engraver and water-colour painter. His wife Rebecca Emes ran a successful silver business after his death.Anne Pimlott Baker, 'Emes, John (1762–1808)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford Un ...

who was born in 1762 was a successful engraver and silversmith. After leaving Kedleston he moved to live in Bowbridge House, (Not Bowbridge Fields farm as previously thought) Mackworth. This was later the home of Edward Darwin (son of Erasamus Darwin who was William Emes friend through the

Lunar Society The Lunar Society of Birmingham was a British dinner club and informal learned society of prominent figures in the Midlands Enlightenment, including industrialists, natural philosophers and intellectuals, who met regularly between 1765 and 1813 ...

) where he developed his practice as a landscape designer, which was concentrated mainly in the Midlands and in north Wales. His style was similar to that of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. At Eaton Hall, Cheshire, Emes was called in to replace Brown by

Lord Grosvenor Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to th ...

. He sometimes furnished a plan and then left the client to undertake the work. On other occasions he would supervise the work for many years, such as the gardens at

Chirk Castle Chirk Castle ( cy, Castell y Waun) is a Grade I listed castle located in Chirk, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. History The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Ed ...

and at

Erddig Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ...

where his involvement continued for 25 years. Emes also designed a few minor buildings. Halston house

The main features of his designs were trees and water. Characteristic designs included serpentine lakes with their ends concealed in woodland, single trees and clumps of trees in parkland with tree belts round the boundary. He created flower gardens adjacent to the house at Sandon Hall, anticipating the later work of

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

. His wife died in 1789 and Emes then moved to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

taking a lease of

Elvetham Hartley Wintney is a large village and civil parish in the Hart district of Hampshire, England. It lies about northwest of Fleet and east of Basingstoke. The parish includes the smaller contiguous village of Phoenix Green as well as the ham ...

Park from Sir Henry Gough-Calthorpe. Here he took commissions in the south of England, sometimes in partnership with John Webb, formerly his foreman. He later moved to London where he died at Vicarage House, St Giles Cripplegate, the home of his daughter, Sarah. He was buried at

St Giles Cripplegate St Giles-without-Cripplegate is an Anglican church in the City of London, located on Fore Street within the modern Barbican complex. When built it stood without (that is, outside) the city wall, near the Cripplegate. The church is dedicated to ...

Designs

Buildings

*Lodge at Attingham Hall, Shropshire *Greenhouse at Penrice Castle, Glamorgan

Gardens

In whole or in part:

Cambridgeshire

Wimpole Hall Wimpole Estate is a large estate containing Wimpole Hall, a country house located within the civil parish of Wimpole, Cambridgeshire, England, about southwest of Cambridge. The house, begun in 1640, and its of parkland and farmland are owned ...

(walled garden) (1790) *Chippenham (1795)

Cheshire

Tatton Hall Tatton Hall is a country house in Tatton Park near Knutsford, Cheshire, England. It is designated as a Grade I- listed building and is open to the public. History The original manor house in Tatton Park was Tatton Old Hall. Around 171 ...

(1768) *

Crewe Hall Crewe Hall is a Jacobean mansion located near Crewe Green, east of Crewe, in Cheshire, England. Described by Nikolaus Pevsner as one of the two finest Jacobean houses in Cheshire,Pevsner & Hubbard, p. 22 it is listed at grade I. Built in 16 ...

(1769) *

Oulton Hall Oulton Hall in Oulton, West Yorkshire, is a Grade II listed building in England. It was once the home of the Blayds/Calverley family. After a major fire in 1850 the hall was remodelled, but its fortunes declined until it was revived for use a ...

(1770) *

Peover Hall Peover Hall is a country house in the civil parish of Peover Superior, commonly known as Over Peover, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. History The house ...

* Eaton Hall * Cholmondeley Hall (1777) *

Arley Hall Arley Hall is a country house in the village of Arley, Cheshire, England, about south of Lymm and north of Northwich. It is home to the owner, Viscount Ashbrook, and his family. The house is a Grade II* listed building, as is its adja ...

(c.1760 and then 1787)

Derbyshire

Kedleston Kedleston is a village and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, approximately north-west of Derby. Nearby places include Quarndon, Weston Underwood, Mugginton and Kirk Langley. The population at the 2011 Census was l ...

(1756–1760) *

Calke Abbey Calke Abbey is a Grade I listed country house near Ticknall, Derbyshire, England, in the care of the charitable National Trust. The site was an Augustinian priory from the 12th century until its dissolution by Henry VIII. The present building ...

(1776)Places associated with Emes
accessed 30 January 2007 *

Markeaton Hall Markeaton Hall was an 18th-century country house in Markeaton, Derbyshire. History The manor of Markeaton was held by the Tuchet family from the 13th century.Magna Britannia p202 Sir John Tuchet (b.1327) married Joan, daughter of James Audley, 2 ...

Shipley Hall Shipley Hall was a country estate in Shipley, Derbyshire near Heanor and Ilkeston which now forms a Country Park. Early history The Shipley estate is an ancient manor that was mentioned in the Domesday Book. From the 14th century the land was ...

*Darley Park *

Radbourne Hall Radbourne Hall is an 18th-century Georgian country house, the seat of the Chandos-Pole family, at Radbourne, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building. History The Manor of Radbourne has been held by the Chandos family from the time of the N ...

(1790) * Locko Hall (1792)

Gloucestershire

* Daylesford House * Dodington House (1793) *Fairford Park (1783–87)

Greater Manchester

* Platt Hall (1768) * Heaton Hall (1770)

Hampshire

*Brockenhurst Park *Dogmersfield Park *Elvetham Hall

Lancashire

*Claughton Hall, Garstang

Lincolnshire

Belton House Belton House is a Grade I listed country house in the parish of Belton near Grantham in Lincolnshire, England, built between 1685 and 1688 by Sir John Brownlow, 3rd Baronet. It is surrounded by formal gardens and a series of avenues leadi ...

Norfolk

Holkham Hall Holkham Hall ( or ) is an 18th-century country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the 1st Earl of Leicester,The Earldom of Leicester has been, to date, created seven times. Thomas ...

Nottinghamshire

*Kirklington Hall (1774) *Carlton Hall,

Carlton in Lindrick Carlton in Lindrick is a village and civil parish about north of Worksop in Nottinghamshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 5,623, including nearby Wallingwells. Toponyms "Carlton", a common English place name, der ...

(1783)

Shropshire

*Walcot Park (c. 1774) *

Halston Hall Halston Hall is a Listed building, Grade I listed building in the Parish councils in England, parish of Whittington, Shropshire, England. A country house first built around 1690, it was given protected status in January 1952. Alterations were ...

(1770s) *Aston Hall (near

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough ...

) (1780) *

Badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

Hall and Dingle (c. 1780) *

Dudmaston Hall Dudmaston Hall is a 17th-century country house in the care of the National Trust in the Severn Valley, Shropshire, England. Dudmaston Hall is located near the village of Quatt, a few miles south of the market town of Bridgnorth, just off the A ...

*Millichope Park * Oakly Park *

Hawkstone Park Hawkstone Park is was a destination on the English Grand Tour and is a historic landscape park with pleasure grounds and gardens historically associated with Soulton Hall and Hawkstone Hall. It is located north east of the small village ...

(lake) *

Cheswardine Cheswardine is a rural village and civil parish in north east Shropshire, England. The village lies close to the border with Staffordshire and is about 8 miles north of Newport and 5 miles south east of Market Drayton. At the 2001 Census, the p ...

Hall, Chipnall

Staffordshire

Ingestre Ingestre is a village and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 194. It is four miles to the north-east of the county town of Stafford. Ing ...

*Sandon (1767) *

Keele Hall Keele Hall is a 19th-century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building. History Early history The manor of K ...

(1768–1770) *Oakedge (1771) * Beaudesert House *Cuffnell *

Statfold Statfold is a former village in Staffordshire, England, about north-east of Tamworth. Population details as taken at the 2011 census can be found under Clifton Campville. These days little remains of the village itself, but the Norman parish ...

(1777) *Sandon Hall (1781–1782) * Etruria Hall *

Betley Court Betley Court is an 18th-century country house in the ancient village of Betley, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. It is a Grade II* listed building. The house was built for John Cradock in 1716 and was later altered by architect George Wi ...

Wiltshire

*Chute *

Bowood House Bowood is a Grade I listed Georgian country house in Wiltshire, England, that has been owned for more than 250 years by the Fitzmaurice family. The house, with interiors by Robert Adam, stands in extensive grounds which include a garden designe ...

Yorkshire

*Cave Castle (1787–1791)

Wales

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

(1764–75) *

, Denbighshire (1768–89) * Llanrhaeadr Hall, Denbighshire (1771) *

Hawarden Hawarden (; cy, Penarlâg) is a village, community and electoral ward in Flintshire, Wales. It is part of the Deeside conurbation on the Wales-England border and is home to Hawarden Castle. In the 2011 census the ward of the same name ...

Old Rectory,

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

(1774) *

Gregynog Gregynog () is a large country mansion in the village of Tregynon, northwest of Newtown in the old county of Montgomeryshire, now Powys in mid Wales. There has been a settlement on the site since the twelfth century. From the fifteenth to t ...

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

(1774) *

Powis Castle Powis Castle ( cy, Castell Powys) is a British medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys. The seat of the Herbert family, Earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the fo ...

Montgomeryshire , HQ= Montgomery , Government= Montgomeryshire County Council (1889–1974)Montgomeryshire District Council (1974–1996) , Origin= , Status= , Start= , End= ...

Penrice Castle Penrice Castle ( cy, Castell Pen-rhys) is a 13th-century castle near Penrice, Swansea on the Gower Peninsula, Wales. Nearby is a neo-classical mansion house built in the 1770s. The mansion is a Grade I listed building and the surrounding gardens ...

Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

Biography

Designs

Buildings

Gardens

Cambridgeshire

Cheshire

Derbyshire

Gloucestershire

Greater Manchester

Hampshire

Lancashire

Lincolnshire

Norfolk

Nottinghamshire

Shropshire

Staffordshire

Wiltshire

Yorkshire

Wales

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading