Thomas Hayton Mawson

[1] Mawson died at Applegarth, Hest Bank, near Lancaster, Lancashire, aged 72, and is buried in Bowness Cemetery within a few miles of some of his best gardens and overlooking Windermere.

To make a living, he worked first in the building trade in Lancaster, then at a London nursery where he gained experience in landscape gardening.

Mawson's first commission was a local property, Graythwaite Hall, and his work there showed his hallmark blend of architecture and planting.

He went on to design other gardens in Cumbria such as Langdale Chase, Holehird,[3] Brockhole,[4] and Holker Hall around the turn of the century.

Between 1894 and 1909 Mawson was commissioned to design and construct Dyffryn Gardens, the home of John Cory, in the Vale of Glamorgan.

[5] Other work in Wales included Maes Manor, near Blackwood, Caerphilly, for a local colliery owner, where Mawson extended the house and laid out an important garden.

[7] Between 1902 and 1903 Thomas Mawson designed the summerhouse, balustraded terraces and pond within a formal garden for Albert Ochs at his new house at Walmer, Kent.

The summerhouse itself is of architectural merit with high quality stonework to its classical detailing and it survives largely intact.

[8] The Rushton Hall estate in Northamptonshire has early 20th century formal terraced gardens designed by Mawson between 1905–1909 and implemented by his brother Robert.

The gardens remain remarkably intact; the terraces and richly planted borders sit the house in a relaxed style on a sloping hillside with views over lake Windermere to the Coniston mountains.

[7] More than 14,000 plans and drawings together with 6,500 glass plate negatives and photographs comprise the archive of Mawson documents.