Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres and avenues to a freer style that incorporated formal, structural and wilderness elements, Bridgeman's innovations in English landscape architecture have been somewhat eclipsed by the work of his more famous successors, William Kent[1] and Lancelot "Capability" Brown.

[3] An early proponent of a less-structured garden design, Bridgeman was a pioneer in the landscape style that spread throughout much of Europe in the 18th century and came to be known as the jardin anglais.

His landscapes displayed formal elements such as parterres, avenues, geometrically shaped lakes and pools, and kitchen gardens.

Transitional elements in his designs included lawns, amphitheatres, garden buildings and statues, winding paths through wooded areas to viewing points and the use of ha-has; these features are some of the progressive ideas he helped bring into favour.

He laid out the extravagant garden of Lord Cobham at Stowe, which compiled temples, pillars, finely carved stone statues, summer houses, and a miniature replica of an Egyptian pyramid (Amherst, 1896, p. 251).