"Wiltshire provides Tim Mowl with a rich cast of owners, designers and hangers-on to characterise: James I 'could be won by hunting, soft fruit and handsome young men', John Aubrey has 'Toad-like self confidence', while William Beckford of Fonthill 'has become a cult figure, a proto-Byron, almost a proto-Satan, charismatic but fated, amoral but superbly stylish...One important point which was emerged from Mowl's surveys...is just how significant the early 18th century was for landscape design; rather than being an eclectic and directionless interface between the age of formality and the Arcadian landscapes of Brown and his ilk it can be seen instead to have been a vibrant and exciting period of experimentation. Mowl is especially good at integrating architectural and increasingly informal garden style."

Paul Stamper, English Heritage

"Historic Gardens is a fascinating account of the garden history of Wiltshire with sometimes acerbic comment and stunning colour plates. Tim Mowl saves his wildest paeons of praise for the Ieoh Ming Pei pyramidal Millenium Pavilion at Oare House - it was Pei who built the controversial pyramid at the Louvre in Paris. Oare House gardens are rarely open to the public, but Dr Mowl advises a little judicious stalking - 'a side lane to the south offers glimpses of the Pei building looking like a glorious Chinese space vehicle.'"

Jackie Chappell, www.thisisbath.co.uk

"Wiltshire is the third county to be covered by Tim Mowl in his largely admirable series on English hsitoric gardens, which is being produced at the astonishing rate of one a year. There are many good things about this volume. As in previous books, some of the best are the evocative descriptions of gardens and their features, and once again he lifts the veil tantalisingly on a number of hard-of-access places, such as the grottoes built by Alderman Beckford at Fonthill."

Roger White, Historic House

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