Image
Watercolour painting of a river curving to the left with woods on both banks and a folly.
West Yorkshire Archive Service
Wed 17 Sep 2025
Heritage Open Days - The Yorkshire Red Books of Humphry Repton (1752-1818) - talk by Dr Patrick Eyres
Heritage
Talk
Adults only
Event organiser:
Leeds Libraries

Humphry Repton was the successor to ‘Capability’ Brown as Britain’s pre-eminent landscape gardener. He was renowned for inventing the Red Book. This was an artwork for prospective clients that combined hand-written design proposals with theatrical before-and-after watercolour illustrations. Nine were produced for Yorkshire clients. The talk will include Repton’s commission from Earl Fitzwilliam at Wentworth Woodhouse (1791-1794), which introduced him to patronage in Yorkshire. It will then focus on those adjacent to Leeds – for the new aristocrats at Harewood (1800), the industrialist, Benjamin Gott, at Armley House (1810) and the banker, John Blayds II at Oulton Hall (1810).

Dr Patrick Eyres is co-author, with Karen Lynch, of On The Spot: The Yorkshire Red Books of Humphry Repton, Landscape Gardener (2018).

This talk is part of the Heritage Open Days Festival 2025

Free but booking essential.

Leeds Central Library

Municipal Buildings
Calverley Street
Leeds
LS1 3AB
United Kingdom

53.800131, -1.548706

    Date
    Wed 17 Sep 2025
    Show all dates/times
    Wed 17 Sep 2025
    1:00pm

    Ticket price

    Free
    Box Office
    0113 378 6982
    Accessibility
    Buggy friendly
    Wheelchair access

    Leeds Libraries

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