Cheswic House

One of the vibrancy of London is its variety of things to see and do in London. Chiswick House Gardens is a site of international importance both as the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement, and as the setting for one of the most beautiful houses in London. The regeneration of the gardens is a result of many years of campaigning, four years of fund-raising and two years of work on the site. English Heritage (manager of the House) and the London Borough of Hounslow (owner of the Gardens) established The Chiswick House and Gardens Trust as an independent charity to drive forward an ambitious rescue plan for the Gardens and secure its future for the 21st century. All these London attractions are always on the top of the visitors’ itinerary.  The best way to see the sights and sounds of London are through the London guided tour or the coach tours London.

Chiswick House Gardens, spread over 65 acres, are known throughout the world as the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement and have inspired countless designed landscapes from Blenheim Palace in Oxford, to Central Park in New York. They were originally created by Lord Burlington and William Kent who worked on them throughout the 1720’s and 1730’s as a setting for Lord Burlington’s magnificent Chiswick House, the first and one of the finest examples of neo-Palladian design in England.
 
The garden restoration, managed by English Heritage, and supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £7.9 million, recovers the original vistas and design from decades of disrepair and underfunding, and also repairs and restores the statuary and garden buildings. The result is an inspiring balance between a historic landscape and a public park. Highlights include the planting of over 1,600 trees, including trees propagated from the original 18th century cedars of Lebanon; the opening up of historic views from the Classic Bridge, the complete restoration of the 19th century conservatory housing a rare and internationally important collection of camellias; the planting of native trees and shrubs in the Northern Wilderness, and the restoration of the Walled Gardens, which will be open to the public on special days. To complement the restoration, award-winning architects Caruso St John have designed a new café within the grounds, on a carefully chosen site close to Chiswick House on the east side. The new café provides indoor seating for 80 people and external seating for over 100, and forms the social hub for the park, with a newly created children’s playground beside it. Visiting the Chiswick House Gardens will be a guaranteed fun for family and friends and an enjoyable tour especially for children. Visit all these and many more London sightseeing attractions with London city tour and get the best of the European Vacation trip at London.

Things to Watch Out For:

- Lord Burlington and William Kent's Western Lawn linking the House and lake, dating from the 18th century.

- The Inigo Jones Gateway, acquired by Lord Burlington in 1738 from his friend Sir Hans Sloane;

- The Cascade, an Italian renaissance-style waterfall designed by Burlington and Kent dating from around 1738;

- Exedra, a lawn lined by alternating cypresses and stone urns closed by a semicircular dark yew hedge, forming a backdrop to Lord Burlington's collection of ancient Roman and 18th century sculpture; The Lake, crossed by an elegant stone bridge, in a design attributed to James Wyatt

- The Raised Terrace, planted with sweet shrubs including roses and honeysuckle which offers celebrated views of the Villa

- The Conservatory, completed in 1813, with the oldest collection of camellias outside China and Japan