Painshill Park, one of the most important 18th century landscape parks in Europe, was the creation of the Hon. Charles Hamilton. Born in 1704, Hamilton was the ninth son and fourteenth child of the Earl of Abercorn. After an education at Westminster and Oxford he went on two Grand Tours and was much influenced by the art, architecture and landscape of Italy.
From 1738, Hamilton began acquiring land at Painshill, Cobham, and over the next thirty-five years dedicated himself to turning this rough heathland into a vision of idealized beauty. Hamilton created the terrain he wanted, laid out grassland, planted woodland and shrubberies, and created an artificial lake with islands. Ornamental garden buildings and features in a variety of styles completed the picture. Many of the plantings were of newly available 'exotic' species from North America and elsewhere.
Painshill was one of the earliest landscape parks, breaking away from the previously favoured style of formal, symmetrical gardens. In this, Hamilton was a forerunner of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and also of the late 18th century Picturesque movement - yet his style was distinct from both of these. Painshill was famous during Hamilton's lifetime and many people came to visit, several leaving detailed descriptions of the park.
Visitors were usually conducted round the site by the Head Gardener, a convenient way of supplementing the meagre wage paid by Hamilton. A mown strip along the northern estate boundary known as the 'cabriole road' was designed for carriages.
Visitors entered by the garden gate where they were shown the flower garden; at this point only the Gothic Tower at the westernmost tip of the site, and the Gothic Temple, were visible, along with views east across the River Mole to Cobham and south to Wood Hill and the Surrey downs. The tour then proceeded up the gentle slope of Wood Hill from where views of the lake and vineyard are obtained. Hamilton extended the lake south-east into the meadows below the vineyard in 1772 to flood the area previously excavated to supply his brick and tile works. In the plantation at the top of the hill is a clearing known as the Amphitheatre, with a statue of the Rape of a Sabine Woman. The original of c 1750 was by van Nost after Giambologna. An avenue leads west to where the restored Gothic Temple (listed grade II*) frames views to the lake and the woods to the west. Paths lead down the hill to the Ruined Abbey (listed grade II), the site of Hamilton's brick and tile works, and the replanted vineyard. The Abbey was a later addition by Hamilton to the landscape (1772) and is not mentioned in earlier descriptions of the site. The vineyard was quite successful and Hamilton laid out a second north of the river.
The path then leads over the wooden Chinese Bridge (restored, listed grade II) to an island in the lake with a large tufa arch. On the north of the island, c.450m south-west of the House, is the Grotto and an adjoining rockwork bridge (both listed grade II). It is a brick-built structure with timber beams and a slate roof, faced with oolitic limestone and rock. Inside it is decorated with fibrous gypsum, mauve fluorite, orange calcite, and other minerals; the main chamber had large stalactites and several cascades and pools. The Grotto was probably built by the Lanes, the most notable grotto-makers of the time who were also responsible for the grotto at nearby Oatlands. A small Palladian bridge led south-west back to the mainland.
The path then leads west to the Roman Mausoleum (listed grade II), which was contrived as a ruin standing in a loop in the river, before turning north towards the site of the Fivearch Bridge and then west to the Cascade situated c 780m south-west of the House at the west end of the lake. A brick duct runs c 200m south-west to the Water Wheel (listed grade II) which raises the water for the lake from the River Mole several metres below. The present iron wheel is 36 feet (c Ilm) in diameter and was built by Bramahs in the 1830s to replace Hamilton's original wheel.
The western end of the site was known as the 'Alpine Wood', with steep slopes planted with a wide variety of trees. At the southern edge lay the Hermitage, a primitive wooden structure but with excellent views to the south over Surrey. At the furthest point of the site is the restored four-storey Gothic Tower (listed grade II*), c 1.3km west of the House; its setting is now spoilt by pylons and overhead power lines.
Turning east the tour visited the now-destroyed Temple of Bacchus, built to house a 7' (c 2m) statue of Bacchus which Hamilton had smuggled out of Italy, and then the ornate Turkish Tent. This final folly, now reconstructed some 50m from its original site (for current site restraint reasons), is situated on a knoll with fine views of the lake and across the so-called Elysian Field towards the House some 750m to the north-east, although this is now concealed by woodland outside the current park boundary. To the north, an area of c 11 ha which was formerly within the park is now occupied by a farm and a Girl Guide Association campsite.
The path returns down the hill to the east, past the remains of the Roman Bath House, situated by a spring-fed pool near a group of cedars planted by Hamilton. This circular building of brick and plaster with a large thatched roof was added by Bond Hopkins in the 1780s and this building was extant until at least 1937, although its tiled pool remains, together with the adjacent, restored water-raising horse pump. There is also a fine, recently restored ice house of c 1830 set in the hillside near the Gothic Temple.
Hamilton never had a great fortune and had to borrow extensively throughout his life to pay for his work at Painshill. Eventually in 1773 his debts became overwhelming and he was forced to sell the park. After this, Painshill had a succession of owners, most of whom took good care of it or, at the very least, did not impose any major alterations. Thus it survived into the twentieth century remarkably unchanged from its original form.
From the time of the Second World War, the park suffered neglect and from 1949 it was sold off in a number of parcels. Some parts were used for commercial farming and forestry, while the rest was left untended: grassland and lakes became overgrown with trees and undergrowth, and the garden buildings decayed, collapsed, and in some cases totally disappeared.
Many people believed the park to be unsalvageable, but during the 1970s various groups formed and began to take an interest in its possible restoration. Restoration work began in 1983 and continues to the present day, aided by generous grants from many charitable bodies and private benefactors.
Many of Hamilton's original creations have been restored and can be visited, such as the shell grotto, the Turkish Tent and the Gothic Temple.
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