Chiswick House is a spectacular Grade I listed Palladian villa set within extensive landscaped grounds, which are themselves widely accepted to be the birthplace of the English landscape movement. The restoration works currently taking place in the grounds have given archaeologists the first opportunity to investigate previously undisturbed parts of the site close to the 18th century villa.
What would these excavations uncover of the earlier buildings on the site, and does any evidence of the former garden designs remain? Maps and pictures can show us ground-plans and exterior facades at specific points in time. However, archaeology can uncover the missing details – how houses were built and then rebuilt, how they were serviced and supplied, and how both house and garden were constantly evolving in line with new owners, new money, and new taste.
A leafy oasis
The Chiswick Estate is a leafy oasis located in the London Borough of Hounslow, 15km to the west of central London, on the banks of the River Thames. The earliest building known on site was a Jacobean House, shown on the late 17th-century view of the estate produced by Kip and Knyff. This building dates from c.1610 and consisted of four ranges centred on an open courtyard, and was the existing building when the 1st Earl of Burlington acquired the estate in the late 17th century.
