Repton's Red Book on Display

In the early nineteenth century, reflecting the changing taste for ‘picturesque ideas’, Stoneleigh Abbey became the focus of improvements which were to provide an exceptional example of landscape design in this style. Renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton considered the estate as one of his more important commissions and, in his Red Book for the Abbey, expressed the quality of the site: “I look upon Stoneleigh Abbey as a place not to be compared to any other.” In the Red Book, the characteristic method Repton used to deliver his ideas to clients, he proposed an idealised landscape created in the style of the Italian landscapes painted by artists such as Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorraine. In presenting his designs, Repton chose to create a gallery of paintings; a method unique to Stoneleigh. Watercolour views of before and after his proposed improvements were presented in the manner of different watercolour painters, including Claude Lorraine, Ruysdael and Watteau. The elegant series of designs presented in Repton’s Red Book of 1809 encapsulate the charm of Stoneleigh Abbey and its riverside landscape.

Repton first visited the site in 1808 to propose the alterations that were to lead, by 1820, to a fundamental change. Although Repton visited in the summer of 1808, the Red Book was not completed and presented to his client until May 1809, almost a year later. It is one of the few large format Red Books reserved for particularly prestigious clients and is comparable with those presented for sites such as Brighton Pavilion and Woburn Abbey. Not only is the Red Book for Stoneleigh unusually large, it is also particularly striking. Repton introduced his proposals as follows:

When illustrating his proposed improvements to the River Avon, Repton imitated the style of Watteau – the charms of the river and his view of a sylvan scene on the banks of the Avon was enlivened by the quality of detail which owes much to the delicacy of the French artist. The watercolour, before improvement, is of particular interest because a figure, thought to be Repton, is seen at work in the foreground pegging out the line of the improvements to the river. This self-portrait serves almost as a signature within this particular watercolour, one of the most exotic of the collection.

Repton’s Red Book for Stoneleigh Abbey will be on display within the Gilt Hall, one of the Abbey’s West Wing state rooms, throughout the 2008 season. Stoneleigh is open to the public from Good Friday until the end of October every Tuesday to Thursday, Sunday and Bank Holiday, with tours of the West Wing at 11am, 1pm and 3pm.