Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe

 

Sir Geoffrey Jellicoe

At Shute Gardens, Jericho used spring water to create a series of waterways, directing water through fountains, streams, seven pools, and out into the open landscape. He experimented with four cascades to create a polyphonic soundscape that energizes both sound and vision.

Shute House is primarily a private garden, a place of quiet contemplation and tranquility, but adds a dramatic delight in the form of its most famous feature - the creek.

Jellicoe's focus on the history of the landscape from neoclassical to postmodern gave him a clear understanding of what constitutes the elements of an English garden.

The water flows into octagonal, square and hexagonal pools, each with a bubbling fountain in the center. All of these had to be lovingly restored.

The narrow formal waterway is surrounded by tall clipped yew hedges, reminiscent of Persian enclosed gardens, or Moorish designs such as the Alhambra in Granada, but with a quintessentially English character.