"Gilbert Laing Meason - (3 July 1769 - 14 August 1832) a Scottish gentleman, best remembered as the originator of the term 'landscape architecture'. Laing Meason lived on an estate called Lindertis, in Forfar, and was a friend of Sir Walter Scott. He was interested in art history, and in 1828 published a book called On The Landscape Architecture of The Great Painters of Italy (London, 1828). It dealt with the way that buildings and structures were sited within landscapes to produce beautiful compositions. The book sold poorly. Although essentially a work of art criticism, Laing Meason touched on subjects, such as the placing of buildings and their surroundings, which form a central part of the modern landscape architect's work. Laing Meason had no reason to believe that the term he used would become popular.
The term would probably have died out if it had not been taken up by the horticulturalist and planner John Claudius Loudon. Loudoun thought that the term had a wider application outside art theory, and explained this view in an article in the contemporaryGardener's Magazine. He felt that the phrase aptly described the composition of created landscapes, and cited the gardens of Deepdene as an exemplar.The term was picked up by Loudon's American admirer Andrew Jackson Downing, from whom Frederick Law Olmsted presumably first heard it. Olmsted was the first professional to describe himself as a 'landscape architect', and is considered to be the founder of the modern profession of landscape architecture."
I found a great contemporary description transcribed on this website which I have copied here as websites come and go...
Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales ..., Volume 1 By John Preston Neale, Thomas Moule (1822)THE SEAT OF GILBERT LAING MEASON, ESQ.
This Mansion is situated on the rising ground, which forms the northern boundary of the fertile and beautiful Vale of Strathmore, seventy miles west of the county town, Forfar. The building, lately erected under the direction of Mr. Archibald Elliot, is a commodious family House; the material is free stone, that abounds in the Valley. The interior is finished in a handsome, but not florid, Gothic style. In the Ground Floor is comprised the living Rooms, consisting of a Dining Room, 30 feet long, by 21 feet broad; Library, 27 by 24; two Drawing Rooms, 30 by 21, and 21 by 16 feet. These Rooms are well connected, and form the east and west sides, and south front of the building. The Dining Room has a groined ceiling, those of the other Rooms have spandril fans in the corners, and a corresponding drop in the centre. The Gothic Staircase Hall, in particular, does great credit to the taste of the Architect.
The grounds are extensive, and the House, placed on an elevated situation, commands fine views of the Vale, yet is well sheltered by the extended woods to the north, west, and east. The approach to the House from the west, is carried in a direct line, for upwards of a mile, along a closely wooded bank. The approach from the south, winds through an open grove of nearly the same length. The whole domain has the advantage of being well sheltered from the cold northern winds, that sometimes blow from the elevated range of mountains called the Grampians. It is no trifling encouragement to the planters of Larchwood, to be informed, that the greater part of the wood employed in this Mansion is of that Fir, thinned out of the surrounding woods, and planted not more than forty-five years ago. The larchwood on this Estate thrives alike well on good deep arable land, on a dry rocky bank of freestone, on cool moorish ground, and on a gravelly soil. In the neighbourhood of Lindertis, are many interesting objects to the admirers of picturesque scenery: such as the grand fall of the river Isla, or the Reekie Lynn; the tremendous chasm, through which the Isla rushes, called the Slough of Auchraimie; the castle of Airley, a romantic seat of the Earl of Airley; and the venerable castle of Glammis, belonging to the Earl of Strathmore, whose extensive and well managed woods adorn the Vale.
Strathmore, or tbe great Vale, is one of tbe most fertile districts in Scotland, extending above 30 miles in length, and 7 miles in breadth. There is no part in the kingdom, in which the drilled turnip culture is carried on in greater perfection, and consequently the winter stall feeding of Cattle. The farms are large, the farm-buildings of tbe most approved and commodious arrangements, and the country in general well enclosed and wooded. For beauty, the Vale is deficient alone in a fine river or lake ; as its only stream is the Dean river, of no size, which flows through the Vale from the lake of Forfar, till it joins the river Isla.
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According to a local Westmuir website - the grounds of the house were laid out by Gilbert Laing Meason himself and everything was done on such a grand scale, that when he died in 1832, his son fell into financial difficulties and the property was sold in 1838. Sadly the house fell into disuse and disrepair over the passing years and was demolished in 1987.
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| Lindertis House |
I found a great contemporary description transcribed on this website which I have copied here as websites come and go...
Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales ..., Volume 1 By John Preston Neale, Thomas Moule (1822)THE SEAT OF GILBERT LAING MEASON, ESQ.
This Mansion is situated on the rising ground, which forms the northern boundary of the fertile and beautiful Vale of Strathmore, seventy miles west of the county town, Forfar. The building, lately erected under the direction of Mr. Archibald Elliot, is a commodious family House; the material is free stone, that abounds in the Valley. The interior is finished in a handsome, but not florid, Gothic style. In the Ground Floor is comprised the living Rooms, consisting of a Dining Room, 30 feet long, by 21 feet broad; Library, 27 by 24; two Drawing Rooms, 30 by 21, and 21 by 16 feet. These Rooms are well connected, and form the east and west sides, and south front of the building. The Dining Room has a groined ceiling, those of the other Rooms have spandril fans in the corners, and a corresponding drop in the centre. The Gothic Staircase Hall, in particular, does great credit to the taste of the Architect.
The grounds are extensive, and the House, placed on an elevated situation, commands fine views of the Vale, yet is well sheltered by the extended woods to the north, west, and east. The approach to the House from the west, is carried in a direct line, for upwards of a mile, along a closely wooded bank. The approach from the south, winds through an open grove of nearly the same length. The whole domain has the advantage of being well sheltered from the cold northern winds, that sometimes blow from the elevated range of mountains called the Grampians. It is no trifling encouragement to the planters of Larchwood, to be informed, that the greater part of the wood employed in this Mansion is of that Fir, thinned out of the surrounding woods, and planted not more than forty-five years ago. The larchwood on this Estate thrives alike well on good deep arable land, on a dry rocky bank of freestone, on cool moorish ground, and on a gravelly soil. In the neighbourhood of Lindertis, are many interesting objects to the admirers of picturesque scenery: such as the grand fall of the river Isla, or the Reekie Lynn; the tremendous chasm, through which the Isla rushes, called the Slough of Auchraimie; the castle of Airley, a romantic seat of the Earl of Airley; and the venerable castle of Glammis, belonging to the Earl of Strathmore, whose extensive and well managed woods adorn the Vale.
Strathmore, or tbe great Vale, is one of tbe most fertile districts in Scotland, extending above 30 miles in length, and 7 miles in breadth. There is no part in the kingdom, in which the drilled turnip culture is carried on in greater perfection, and consequently the winter stall feeding of Cattle. The farms are large, the farm-buildings of tbe most approved and commodious arrangements, and the country in general well enclosed and wooded. For beauty, the Vale is deficient alone in a fine river or lake ; as its only stream is the Dean river, of no size, which flows through the Vale from the lake of Forfar, till it joins the river Isla.
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According to a local Westmuir website - the grounds of the house were laid out by Gilbert Laing Meason himself and everything was done on such a grand scale, that when he died in 1832, his son fell into financial difficulties and the property was sold in 1838. Sadly the house fell into disuse and disrepair over the passing years and was demolished in 1987.
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