Thomas White

This volume aims to restore the reputation of Thomas White, who in his time was as well respected as his fellow landscape designers Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and Humphry Repton. By the end of his career, he had produced designs for at least 32 sites across northern England and over 60 in Scotland. These include nationally important designed landscapes in Yorkshire such as Harewood House, Sledmere Hall, Burton Constable Hall, Newby Hall, Mulgrave Castle as well as Raby Castle in Durham, Belle Isle in Cumbria, and Brocklesby Hall in Lincolnshire. He has a vital role in the story of how northern English designed landscapes evolved in the 18th century. The book focuses on White's known commissions in England and sheds further light on the work of other designers such as Brown and Repton, who worked on many of the same sites. White set up as an independent designer in 1765, having worked for Brown from 1759, and his style developed over the next thirty years. Never merely a 'follower of Brown', as he is often erroneously described, his designs for plantations in particular were much admired and influenced the later, more informal styles of the picturesque movement. The improvement plans he produced for his clients demonstrate his surveying and artistic skills. These plans were working documents but at the same time works of art in their own right. Over 60 of his beautifully-executed colored plans survive, which is a testament to the value his clients placed on them. This book makes available for the first time over 90% of the known plans and surveys by White for England. Also included are plans by White's contemporaries, together with later maps, estate surveys, and contemporary illustrations to understand which parts of improvement plans were implemented. Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of figures Abbreviations Chapter 1 Thomas White in context Chapter 2 Early career and working with Brown Chapter 3 First 1765–8 Chapter 4 Established landscape 1769–80 Chapter 5 Later 1781–1803 Chapter 6 Getting the commission Chapter 7 His landscape designs Chapter 8 Working methods Chapter 9 Arboricultural activities Chapter 10 Thomas White in Scotland by Christopher Dingwall Chapter 11 White’s sites in England 11.1 Armley 11.2 Belle Isle 11.3 Blyborough 11.4 Brocklesby 11.5 Burton Constable 11.6 Busby 11.7 Campsall 11.8 Carlton 11.9 Colwick 11.10 Copgrove 11.11 Fryston 11.12 Goldsborough 11.13 Grimston Garth 11.14 Grove 11.15 Harewood 11.16 Hawksworth 11.17 Holme 11.18 Houghton 11.19 Kirkleatham 11.20 Lumley 11.21 Mulgrave 11.22 Newby 11.23 Norton 11.24 Owston 11.25 Raby 11.26 Scarisbrick 11.27 Sedbury 11.28 Skelton Castle 11.29 Sledmere 11.30 Welton 11.31 Workington 11.32 Others – Kilnwick and Stapleton Bibliography Index