In Britain, where there was little scope to retreat from modernism, the ground was fertile for postmodern gardens.

The leading figure has been Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe. His work may turn out to be as influential in the twenty-first century as was Repton's in the nineteenth. I trust it will be for the good, where Repton's was often for the bad. A similar comparison can be drawn between the influence of Milton and Shakespeare on the English language. Milton was a great stylist, but it was Shakespeare who 'has no equal with regard to the extent and profundity of his influence on the English language' (Bradley, 1937). Repton's horizon of interest was largely within and around his chosen profession. Jellicoe brings a far wider sphere of knowledge to landscape and garden design. He is a man of ideas, and they come from many times, subjects and places.

In 1933, Jellicoe was responsible for the last great Italian garden in England, at Ditchley Park, and also for the first Modern Movement garden in England, for the Caveman restaurant in the Cheddar Gorge. They were an astonishing pair. In 1956 he designed a magical roof garden for a department store in Guildford (Figure 3). The composition appeared abstract, but the design had meaning: the circular stepping stones and planters that orbited the rooftop pool were inspired by the launch of the first Russian satellite in that year. In 1964 Jellicoe was asked to design a memorial garden for President Kennedy. There was a classical aspect to the Kennedy story, of a young hero slain in his prime, which reminded the designer of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, and of Giovanni Bellini's Allegory of the Progress of the Soul. This became the theme of what Jellicoe sees as his first allegorical garden. The granite set path that winds up the hill is an allegory for 'a multitude of pilgrims on their way upwards' (Figure 11, p. 89). The awkwardness of the journey is a preparation for the tranquillity of the sculptured stone memorial. The lettering reads as texture, as though 'the stone itself speaks' (Jellicoe, 1983)

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 893