Robert Marnock (1800–1889) was one of the outstanding English horticulturalists and garden designers of the 19th century. He was considered by his contemporaries to be the best exponent of the

Gardenesque The term ''gardenesque'' was introduced by John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843) in 1832 to describe a style of planting design in accordance with his 'Principle of Recognition'. Definitions Loudon was worried that picturesque planting could be ...

school of landscape gardening.

Life

Before he came to

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, Marnock worked as the head gardener in Bretton Hall (now the

Yorkshire Sculpture Park The Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP) is an art gallery, with both open-air and indoor exhibition spaces, in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England. It shows work by British and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbar ...

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

between 1829 and 1833. He was appointed by the Sheffield Botanical and Horticultural Society in 1833 to design and lay out the

Botanical Gardens A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens, an ...

, at an annual salary of £100. Marnock designed the Botanical Gardens in the then highly fashionable Gardenesque style. He became the first curator of the Gardens in 1836. A major restoration of the Gardens, completed in summer 2008, reinstated elements of Marnock's design. In 1839, Marnock moved on to lay out the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society of London in

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

and was appointed as the gardens' curator on the advice of

John Claudius Loudon John Claudius Loudon (8 April 1783 – 14 December 1843) was a Scottish botanist, garden designer and author. He was the first to use the term arboretum in writing to refer to a garden of plants, especially trees, collected for the purpose of ...

. He left this post in 1863 but continued to practise in his profession as a landscape gardener until 1879, during this time he returned to Sheffield for two commissions, Thornbury in 1865 and

Weston Park Weston Park is a country house in Weston-under-Lizard, Staffordshire, England, set in more than of park landscaped by Capability Brown. The park is located north-west of Wolverhampton, and north-east of Telford, close to the border with Shrop ...

in 1873. In the 1860s, Marnock worked for

Louis Huth Louis Huth (22 March 1821 – 12 February 1905), was a British company director and merchant banker. He was a partner in Frederick Huth & Co, the merchant bank established by his father. Huth and his wife, Helen Huth (1837-1924), were signific ...

on the park and garden of Possingworth Park, Sussex. Another of his achievements was the landscaping in the 1870s of the grounds of Avenue House, Finchley, north London, the property of ink magnate and local MP

Henry Charles Stephens Henry Charles "Inky" Stephens (2 February 1841 – July 1918) was an English businessman and Conservative PartyLloyd's Weekly Newspaper, Sunday, 3 July 1887 "Election Intelligence" politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1887 to 1900 as t ...

. After Stephens' death in 1918 they became a public park renamed Stephens House & Gardens in February 2014. Since then the estate has benefited from National Lottery money to restore Marnock's designs to their original grandeur. Marnock was editor of ''The Floricultural Magazine'' for four years. One of the best preserved examples of his work is

Dunorlan Park Dunorlan Park is a park and grounds in Royal Tunbridge Wells, UK. Totalling approximately and containing a lake, the grounds were landscaped by Robert Marnock for Henry Reed, the merchant and philanthropist who owned the estate and the no ...

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

which has recently undergone a £2.8 million transformation to restore it to the original Marnock design. The park is now on

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

. Robert Marnock lived near Tunbridge Wells, in Rusthall, and his last commission was the Grosvenor Recreation Ground, near Quarry Road, Tunbridge Wells, opened in 1889 by Mayor John Stone-Wigg.

References

Notes

1800 births 1889 deaths English gardeners {{horticulture-stub