English Gardens 英倫花園

戴維·羅斯 王一宇

Roman Gardens

The earliest English gardens that we know of were planted by the Roman conquerors of Britain in the 1st century AD. The Roman gardens that we know the most about are those of the large villas and palaces. The best example of the latter is probably Fishbourne Roman Palace in Sussex， where an early garden has been partly reconstructed.

Fishbourne shows a carefully symmetrical formal planting of low box hedges split by gravelled walks. The hedges are punctuated1 by small niches which probably held ornaments like statues， urns， or garden seats. The formal garden near the house gave way to a landscaped green space leading down to the waterside below. There is also a small kitchen garden which is planted with fruits and vegetables common in Roman Britain.

We know very little about the gardens of Anglo-Saxon England， which is another way of saying that the warlike Anglo-Saxons probably did not hold gardening to be important.

Monastic Gardens

It was not until the Middle Ages that gardens once more became important in British life. Monasteries had both kitchen gardens and herb gardens to provide the practicalities of food and medicine. The monastery cloister provided an open green space surrounded by covered walks， generally with a well， or fountain at the centre.

Castles sometimes made room for small courtyard gardens， with paths through raised flower beds. Other common features of medieval castle gardens include turf seats and high mounds， or mounts， which provided a view over the castle walls.

As castles gave way to fortified manor houses in the later medieval period， the garden became a simple green space surrounded by hedges or fences. Games such as bowls or tennis took place on the lawn.

The next stage of the English garden came after the Reformation. Many landowners enclosed common land to create parks for keeping deer or cattle. This “natural” landscape gave way to formal gardens near the house， still sheltered from the outside world by hedges or walls.

Tudor Gardens

The Tudors followed Italian influence in creating gardens which mirrored the alignment of the house， creating a harmony of line and proportion that had been missing in the Medieval period. For the first time since the Romans left， sundials and statues were once more popular garden ornaments.

But the most prominent contribution of the Tudors to gardening was the knot garden. Knots were intricate patterns of lawn hedges， usually of box， intended to be viewed from the mount， or raised walks. The spaces between the hedges were often filled with flowers， shrubs， or herbs.

No Tudor gardens have survived intact， but some of the best examples still remaining can be glimpsed at Haddon Hall （Derbyshire）， Montacute House （Somerset）， and Hampton Court Palace （near London）. The latter has reconstructions of Tudor knot gardens， but these were planted in the early 20th century.

If the Tudors were heavily influenced by Italian ideas， the Stuarts were slaves to the French fashion for formal gardens. The chief feature of this French style is a broad avenue sweeping away from the house， flanked by rectangular parterres2 made of rigidly formal low hedges. The prime survivors of this style can be seen at Blickling Hall （Norfolk）， Melbourne Hall （Derbyshire）， and Chatsworth House （also Derbyshire）.

An offshoot of the French style was provided by the Dutch， who advocated more water， flower bulbs， trees planted in tubs， and topiary. Westbury Court （Gloucestershire） shows this Dutch style.

The 18th century saw a swing from Renaissance formality to a more “natural” look3. One of the prime movers of this style was the art patron， Lord Burlington. William Kent designed an influential garden for Lord Burlington at Chiswick House4 based on carefully calculated vistas with temples， statues， and classical ornaments punctuating openings in treed parkland5.

English Landscape Gardens

Lines were no longer straight， paths curve and wander， and parterres are replaced by grass. Trees were planted in clusters rather than in straight lines， and rounded lakes replaced the rectangular ponds of the earlier style. The garden became open， a park joining the house to the outside world rather than a carefully nurtured refuge from it.

This natural style begun by Kent evolved into the “landscape garden” under Kents pupil and son-in-law， Lancelot “Capability” Brown. Brown， whose curious nickname came from his habit of telling prospective clients that their gardens showed “great capabilities”， had an enormous effect upon the course of English gardening and architectural style.

The landscape garden made the English country house a part of the fields and farmlands surrounding it. Gone were hedgerows and fences. Gone， too， were formal beds and walks. Grass parkland was brought right up to the doors of the house. The greatest surviving landscape gardens by Capability Brown are at Longleat （Wiltshire）， Burghley House （Lincolnshire）， Petworth House （West Sussex）， and Blenheim Palace6 （Oxon）.

Humphrey Repton carried on Browns landscape garden mastery， though Repton introduced gravel walks and re-introduced separate flower gardens. Repton replaced the earlier classical ornaments with romantic structures like grottoes and fake ruins. See a largely unchanged Repton garden at Betchworth House （Surrey）.

Victorian Garden

In the Victorian era， the pendulum swung again， to massed beds of flowers （bedding out7 plants raised in greenhouses）， exotic colours， and intricate designs. The most influential gardeners of this period were J.C. Loudon， and later， Joseph Paxton （Chatsworth House and Kew）.

The Victorian period also saw a profusion of public gardens and green spaces aimed at bringing culture to the masses. Some of the finest Victorian gardens are public parks， like Peoples Park in Halifax. Taste in the late Victorian period varied between formal and the “wild” garden advocated by the influential writer William Robinson. Sometimes the formal and informal looks were combined in the same garden， as at Sissinghurst Castle （Kent）， and Hidcote Manor Gardens （Gloucestershire）.

Modern Garden

Gertrude Jekyll is arguably the most influential gardener of 20th century England. She popularized the herbaceous border8 and planning a garden based on colour schemes. This built on the tradition of the Cottage Garden， with its profusion of flowers wherever space permits， and climbers on trellises and walls. Jekyll saw the house and garden as part of an integral whole， rather than the garden as an afterthought to the building. Her work survives at Marsh Court （Hampshire） and Hestercombe （Somerset）.

Gardening has always been a matter of personal taste， and often the outstanding works of previous generations are torn down to make way for the style of the next. For that reason， it is hard to find unaltered examples of historical gardens in England.

Yet， throughout Britain there are gardens great and small， formal and informal， private and public， that illustrate the British passion for creating green， growing spaces of their own. All are different， and all， like their owners and creators， have a distinct personality.

羅馬時期花園

羅馬征服者于公元1世紀建在英倫土地上的花園，是我們所知最早的英式花園。我們最熟悉的羅馬花園是大型別墅和宮殿里的花園，后者的最佳典范可能是蘇塞克斯郡的菲什伯恩羅馬宮，那里的一座早期花園已部分重建。

菲什伯恩宮展示著精心修剪、規整對稱的矮綠籬，碎石路穿插其間。樹籬間設有安放雕像等裝飾物的小壁龕，水甕或花園座椅。房子附近的規整式庭園已改造成一片景觀綠地，一直延伸到下面水畔。還有一個小菜園，種著羅馬帝國統治下的不列顛常見的蔬果。

我們對盎格魯-撒克遜人統治下的英格蘭的花園知之甚少，這也說明好戰的盎格魯-撒克遜人大概并不重視園藝。

修道院花園

直到中世紀，花園才再次在英國人生活中變得重要起來。修道院有菜園和藥用植物園，提供實用的食品和藥材。修道院的回廊上帶頂棚的步道環繞著一片開放綠地，綠地中央通常有一口水井或一座噴泉。

城堡中有時也建造小庭園，園中一條條小徑，兩邊鋪設著隆起的花壇。中世紀城堡花園通常還都有草皮座椅和高高的土墩（或稱小山丘），登臨此處可以看到城堡圍墻外的景致。

中世紀晚期，城堡逐步演變為設防的莊園，花園成了一片由樹籬或柵欄圍成的普通綠地，在草坪上可進行滾木球或打網球等游戲。

宗教改革后英倫花園進入下一階段。許多土地所有者把公地圈起來，建造公園，飼養鹿或牛。這種“自然”景觀逐步演變成房子附近的規整花園，仍然以樹籬或墻圍著，不受外界干擾。

都鐸時期花園

都鐸王室受意大利影響，建造花園時像建房子一樣講究橫平堅直，達成中世紀所缺失的線條和比例上的和諧。自從羅馬人離開后，日晷和雕像首次再度成為人們喜愛的花園裝飾品。

但都鐸王室對園藝最突出的貢獻是結園。“結”是草坪樹籬（通常是黃楊樹籬）組成的復雜圖案，意在讓人們從山丘上或高出地面的步道上觀看。樹籬之間的空隙常由花卉、灌木或草本植物填充。

都鐸時期的花園都沒能完整保存下來，但在哈頓莊園（德比郡）、蒙塔丘特府邸（薩默塞特郡）和漢普頓宮（倫敦附近）能看到現存最具代表性的幾座都鐸花園。雖然漢普頓宮重建了都鐸結園，但那是在20世紀早期建造的。

如果說都鐸時期的花園深受意大利風格影響，斯圖亞特王朝時期的庭園簡直是法式規整園林的翻版。這種法式風格的主要特點是從房子延伸出一條筆直寬闊的大道，兩側是長方形花圃，其中栽植著修剪規整的低矮樹籬。現存的這種風格的花園主要在布利克靈大宅（諾福克郡）、墨爾本莊園（德比郡）和查茨沃斯莊園（也在德比郡）看到。

荷蘭人開辟了法式風格的一個分支，他們提倡設置更多水景，使用更多球莖花卉、盆種樹木和綠雕塑。韋斯特伯里邸宅（格洛斯特郡）展現了這種荷蘭風格。

在18世紀，文藝復興時期的規整式園林風格向更為“自然”的樣式轉變，主要推動者之一是藝術贊助人伯林頓勛爵。威廉·肯特在奇西克莊園為伯林頓勛爵設計了一座頗具影響力的花園，各處景觀都經過精心規劃，綠地有樹叢點綴，開闊處豎立著廟宇、雕像和古典裝飾性建筑。

英式自然風景園

線條不再筆直，小徑曲折蜿蜒，花壇變成草地，樹木成簇而不是排成一線，早前風格的長方形池塘變為圓形湖泊。公園連接起房屋和外部世界，而不再是一個精心打理的庇護所，花園變得開放了。

這種自然風格由肯特開創，在肯特的學生兼女婿——蘭斯洛特·“萬能”布朗的影響下，演變成“自然風致園”。布朗這個奇特的綽號源自他的一個習慣：他常對潛在客戶說他們的花園“大有可為”，他對英國的園藝和建筑風格產生了巨大的影響。

自然風景園使英國鄉村房屋成為周圍田野和農田的一部分，樹籬和籬笆不復存在，整齊的花壇和步道也不見了。草地一直延伸到房子的門口。在“萬能”布朗設計的自然風景園中，現存最大的是朗利特（威爾特郡）、伯利莊園（林肯郡）、佩特沃斯莊園（西蘇塞克斯郡）和布萊尼姆宮（牛津郡）。

盡管漢弗萊·雷普頓引入了碎石路并重新引入了獨立花園，他傳承了布朗精湛的景觀園藝。他用石窟和仿遺址等浪漫主義建筑取代了早期古典裝飾性建筑，如在貝奇沃思莊園（薩里郡）的雷普頓花園，至今仍基本保存完好。

維多利亞時期花園

維多利亞時期，掀起大片花圃（溫室植物移栽而成）、異域色彩、復雜設計的復古風潮。這一時期最有影響力的園藝師是J. C.勞登，后來是約瑟夫·帕克斯頓（查茨沃思莊園和邱園）。

維多利亞時期也出現了大量的公共花園和綠地，旨在將文化帶給大眾。一些最好的維多利亞花園是公共公園，比如哈利法克斯的人民公園。維多利亞晚期的品味既有規整式設計，也有重要作家威廉·羅賓遜所倡導的“野性”花園風格。有時，規整和不規整的風格在同一座花園中融為一體，如在西辛赫斯特城堡（肯特郡）和希德科特莊園花園（格洛斯特郡）。

近代花園

格特魯德·杰基爾可以說是20世紀英格蘭地區最有影響力的園藝家。她推廣草本植物花壇，根據配色方案設計花園，以傳統“村舍花園”為基礎，在所有空間允許之處種滿鮮花，棚架和墻上爬滿攀緣植物。杰基爾把房子和花園看作一個整體，而不是把花園視為房屋的補充。她的作品在馬什邸宅（漢普郡）和赫斯特庫姆（薩默塞特郡）保存下來。

園藝始終是個人品味的體現，上一代的杰出作品往往會被摒棄，由下一代風格取代。因此，在英國很難看到歷代的花園能原汁原味地保持到現在。

然而，英國各地的花園，或大或小，或規整或不規整，或私有或公有，都彰顯了英國人熱衷于創造一片綠意盎然、生機勃勃的個人小天地。這些花園各不相同，如同它們的主人和設計者一樣，都有自己獨特的個性。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者;單位：南京師范大學外國語學院）