Tudor gardens: Henry VII 1485-Elizabeth I 1603

Influences from Renaissance Italy began to infiltrate Tudor gardens.

This can be seen in the greater regularity of design and the relationship between the garden and the façade of the house, along with architectural features such as banqueting houses, loggias and fountains.

Snail mounts were popular, ascended by a spiral path and often topped with a pavilion offering views both of the garden within and out to the deer park, the greatest status symbol of the day. The most recognised feature from this period is the knot garden: beds of interlacing patterns designed to be seen from above and filled with herbs and favourite flowers such as gilly-flowers and carnations.

Style at a glance

  1. Knot gardens, geometric beds edged with a low hedge of box or other shrubs
  2. Flowers, cultivated not only for their beauty but for flavouring sweets and desserts. Favourites were violets, marigolds, and most importantly the rose
  3. 3. Mounts, an artificial hill for viewing often situated at the corners of the garden to provide views both of the garden and the landscape beyond
  4. 4. Banqueting Houses to provide an intimate room for enjoying desserts and for entertainment
  5. 5. Fountains and automated water features to animate the garden, reflecting an interest in hydraulics
  6. 6. Deer parks, not only living larders providing meat for the household but also a symbol of wealth and status
  7. 7. Use of symbolic devices and ornaments such as poles topped with colourful heraldic animals and labyrinths associated with religious or mythological significance

Where to see gardens with Tudor features:

    Godolphin, Cornwall


    Horton Court, Gloucestershire

    This modest 16th-century manor house displays some of the earliest Renaissance decorative motifs used in England. The garden is composed of a series of terraces, which gives a clue to its Tudor layout, along with at least one of its original fishponds. The most remarkable feature is the loggia, or ambulatory, with four stone medallions of roman emperors and pagan characters set into its walls, a souvenir no doubt of the owner William Knight’s time in Italy.

    Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire


    Lyveden New Bield, Northhamptonshire


    Montacute House, Somerset


    Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire


    Moseley Old Hall, Staffordshire


    The Vyne, Hampshire
