The next morning after breakfast, we set off for our first garden, Chiswisk House and Gardens.

Until the nineteenth century, historians believed that Lord Burlington, who built Chiswick House in the 1720s, was merely the interested owner. In fact, as an American scholar discovered in 1927, his Lordship was actually the architect of the House. Burlington admired the neo-classical buildings of sixteenth-century Italy , and today Chiswick House is recognized internationally as one of the finest English buildings inspired by the architecture of ancient Rome . While the house was built chiefly as his residence, Lord Burlington was intent on creating a setting fit for his collection of art and books. You can enjoy the charms of the house, including the lavish Blue Velvet Room, and then step outside to the perfect symmetry of the Italianate gardens with their statues, temples, obelisks and urns. A perfect complement to the house itself.

The 1720s garden was sufficiently changed by ‘landscape’ ideas for Pope to see it as the first garden in which ‘the genius of the place’ had been consulted. Lord Burlington, the owner and chief designer, was helped by Charles Bridgeman and William Kent. They aimed to make an Augustan villa. The architecture was modelled on Palladio’s 1550 Villa Rotunda. Buildings and obilisks were placed at the ends of avenues, in the Baroque manner. Classical busts, sphinxes, columns and an exedra helped to re-create the landscape of antiquity. William Kent helped with the classical allusions, designed a rustic cascade and gently serpentined canal. The area between the house and the canal, occupied by a maze in 1730, was
the first to be treated in this way. Since Kent ’s style became influential, we are fortunate that it survives.

Then off to Kew … The gardens provide a rainbow of colours. Partly landscaped by Capability Brown, he is possibly most famous for its glasshouses, dominated by the large palm house, where everything from orchids to exotic plants survive.  I have been to Kew a few times and each time try to go someplace where I have not visited.

I visited the Marianne North Gallery and was astounded at the number of paintings this woman painted … 832 of them are displayed here,   this will give you further information  http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ksheets/mnorth.html   This building is the red brick one with the green door.