The formal garden making of George Devey (1820-1886)

George Devey is best known for his vernacular architecture and picturesque estate cottages rather than formal garden making. In the late 1850s-60s he recreated a formal garden at Penshurst Place in Kent using an engraving of the original seventeenth-century garden layout.  In the 1990s the RIBA purchased a vast collection of his work, over 3800 drawings, plans, sketches and watercolours, which included unknown works for gardens.   This paper will discuss a selection of these garden works and what remains today.

Following a career in marketing, interim management and consultancy, Sara Tenneson found gardens and garden history.  This interest led her to study plants and planting design, setting up her own business and going on to study garden history with the Birkbeck Certificate and Diploma leading to an MA. In November 2022 she was awarded a PhD from the University of London for her thesis ‘The revival of the formal garden in the late nineteenth century and the contribution of architects George Devey (1820-1886) and Sir Reginald Blomfield (1856-1942)’.