Westminster Abbey to install fountain to mark Capability Brown anniversary
Wednesday, 7th September 2016
Westminster Abbey will install a fountain in the centre of its principal Cloister to commemorate the tercentenary this year of the birth of Lancelot (Capability) Brown, the great landscape gardener.
The fountain is to be installed on the site of a monastic well in the Great Cloister. The project is at an early design stage and no date has yet been fixed for its completion.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said, ‘We are pleased to mark the tercentenary of the birth of Capability Brown by announcing our plan to place a permanent memorial to him at the Abbey. A beautiful fountain will greatly enhance the Abbey’s Cloister Garth and reflect the historic importance of water in this special part of the Abbey. This will be the first memorial at the Abbey to celebrate the importance of gardening in the life of the nation and our responsibility to replenish the earth.’
Whilst Capability Brown is best known for his great landscapes works, water played a central part in his work. He also carried out works on a considerable number of former or redeveloped monastic buildings.
