An Earthwork of Surprise: The 18th-Century Ha-Ha Author(s): S. A. Mansbach Source: Art Journal, Vol. 42, No. 3, Earthworks: Past and Present (Autumn, 1982), pp. 217-221 Published by: College Art Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/776581 . Accessed: 02/09/2014 13:48

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This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 2 Sep 2014 13:48:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions An Earthworkof Surprise: The 18th-CenturyHa-Ha

The transformationof the Englishgarden fromits traditionalContinental formality to an irregularlyplanned landscape garden wasa verygradual process. 1 The development of the new ideas of gardendesign seems to ,::: havedepended, at leastin part,on the use of thecurious feature of gardenenclosure known 1: - i ::: as the ha-ha(Fig. 1) or drytrench, which representeda peculiarlyEnglish reappraisal of elementsof Europeanmilitary engineering andFrench landscape planning. "*' Theha-ha was employed widely in eighteenth- centuryBritain both as a practicaldevice to 0 0 0 ::D keep the lord'sgrazing animals from the im- lMh :: I mediatevicinity of thehouse and as a meansto createa satisfyingvisual continuity between houseand the surrounding "natural" parkland. The simple materialsnecessary-land and either brick or stone to revet the earthen scarp-coupled withits elementaryconstruc- tionand the large amounts of capitalavailable to be investedin improvingthe landscape V..'.~~~~~~~~~,,,, encouragedthe use of the ha-haon an enor- Fig.1 Drawingfrom Miles Hadfield, The Art of the Garden (L ond on.' 1965), page 8 mousscale. But to understandits use properly, we mustturn briefly to its history. In LawrenceSterne's popular eighteenth- centurynovel TristramShandy, Tristram's UncleToby is possessedby a tellinghobby- I wasshowing Mrs. Bridget our fortifica- a probablehistorical precedent for theintro- horse thatwas "Themost ridiculoushorse tions,and in goingtoo near the edge of duction of the ha-ha,which in a different thatever gentleman mounted... [and]proved the fosse,I unfortunatelyslipped in... contextbecame the "capital stroke" that made an inexhaustiblefund of entertainment."2What and beinglinked fast, an' pleaseyour possibleand practicalthe newEnglish land- so amusedthe Shandyfamily was Toby'sob- Honour,arm in armwith Mrs. Bridget, I scapegarden. To understand this development, sessionwith constructing small-scale military draggedher after me, by means of which we mightbriefly look at one settingin which fortifications,an activity first begun during his shefell backwards soss against the bridge.3 the new ideas were used with consummate long convalescencefrom a war injuryto his skill and imagination.This was at Stowe,the groin,suffered in anattack on a counterscarp. The eveningencounter with the fosse thus homeof RichardTemple, First Viscount Cob- Toby'spreoccupation was practicedwith the endednot in gratificationof a lover'spassion ham,in Buckinghamshire,from 1697 to 1749. passion and absorptionof an ardentlover. but in defeat.To quote a militarytheorist Recognizedin its owntime as a modernElysi- Ironically,however, it wasthis obsession that whomwe shall encounteragain shortly, the um, this countryestate possessed what that preventedlove-for Tobyand for his loyal fosse "prevent[ed] the workbeing taken by most perfecteighteenth-century figure, Jean manservantCorporal Trim, who tells us how, surprise."4 JacquesRousseau, called "une magnificence one evening: Sterne'sportrait of Toby'spassion points to plusqu'humaine."5

Fall 1982 217

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 2 Sep 2014 13:48:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions terscarp.Indeed, a contemporarytext by John Muller,Treatise concerning the elementary part of Fortification,1746, describes in ex- plicitdetail how such a fossewas customarily madeof

turf,and the outside of the parapet fraised, thatis, a rowof palissadesare placed in aboutthe middle of theslope, in a hori- zontalmanner, the points declining rather a littledownwards, that the grenadesor fire-worksthrown upon them may roll downinto the ditch.

In its essentialfeatures, Muller's description accordswell with Rigaud and Baron's engrav- ing:the turfescarp is embeddedwith a hori- Fig. 2 TheTemple of Venus, on theSouth-west bastion of the ha-ha. William Kent, 1730 -31 zontalrow of palisades,though here employed (fromHussey, Plate 127). not to repelgrenades but to preventa frontal assaultby LordCobham's livestock on the strollersin the garden.Yet, from Muller's passageone canlearn more. As pointed out by GeorgeClarke, the use of thefraisessuggests

thatthe inner wall of theditch was faced with turf,a normalform of revetment beforethe introductionof sandbags,the turvesbeing built up like brickworkas headersand stretchers.... But as turfhad to becarefully cut and laid and as it often neededrepair, revetment which was in- tendedto lastfor more than a fewmonths requiredfurther strengthening if it wasto contain the earth effectively.Various methodsof reinforcement were used in field fortifications,including wooden hurdles wovenwith brushwoodor wattle,and thoughthere is no specificrecord of these beingmade, the constant reference to the ditchas a stockadeditch makes their use veryprobable. (Fig. 4).8 Fig. 3 Stowe.Ha-ha. Detail of engraving by Rigaud and Baron, View of the Queen 's Theatre from the Rotunda/Veiedu Theatrede la Reinepris & cote de la Rotunde,from SarahBridgeman, Thatsuch a militarygarden ditch pleased pub., Viewsof Stowe(1739), p. 8. the Lordof Stoweis evidentnot onlyin his encouragementof Bridgemanin 1720 to in- The historyof the ha-haat Stowewould perimeter,the emerging garden at Stowe must creasesignificantly the magnitude of thegarden haveentertained Uncle Toby, for its con- have stronglyresembled a militaryfortress. -with a commensurateincrease in theuse of nectionwith fortifications and even love was Indeed,a closerlook at these early ditches will the ha-ha-but also in his grantinga special quite pronounced.6About a decadebefore revealtheir military source. bountyto JohnLee, who pioneered the use of WilliamKent constructed his well-known Tem- In an engravingof 1739 by Rigaudand thefosse at Stowe in theimmediately preceding ple of Venus(1730-31) on top of the south- Baronpublished by the widowof Cobham's year.9Cobham's good taste was confirmed west bastionof the ha-haat Stowe(Fig. 2), chief gardener,Charles Bridgeman, one can shortlyafter, as one learnsfrom a letterof theestate documents record "ye first stockeade beginto see whatthe authorof thefirst guide 1724 fromLord Perceval to his cousinDaniel ditch by ye LimeWalk," begun in February to Stowe(1742) mighthave meant when he Dering. Whilepraising Bridgeman's entire 1719 underone John Lee, and finished in the describedthe grassyglade in the southwest landscape,Perceval pointedly remarks that followingOctober. Lord Cobham, being on partof the estateas "theField, which is en- "whatadds to thebeauty of thisgarden is, that militarycampaign in Spainat the time,must closedin a militaryWay, with a stakedFence"7 it is not boundedby walls,but by a ha-hah, havebeen impressed upon his returnwith this (Fig. 3). In the engraving,several figures which leaves you the sight of the beautiful ditchand its potential,for whenhe commis- standbehind a low hedgeand point emphati- woodycountry, and makes you ignorant how sionedCharles Bridgeman (d. 1738)to design callyto a rathertame cow (?) separatedfrom farthe high planted walks extend."?0 Perceval's a grandscheme for the enlargementof his themby a slopingbank. The bank forms a dry praisewas sharedby many others who would garden,the new programcalled for a major trenchfrom whose scarpprojects a row of haveagreed that in the five-yearperiod since extensioninto the part,to be boundedby a sharpenedspikes. This fencingdevice must JohnLee's pioneering ha-ha, Stowe "has gained stockadeditch of similarnature to thatdug have recalledcontemporary fortification de- the reputationof beingthe finestseat in En- underMr. Lee in the previousyear. With its fensesin whichthe inner wall of thefosse was gland."'1By 1724 this meantthat Cobham's corner bastionsand its ha-hasaround the embeddedwith pointed poles facing the coun- Buckinghamshireestate was perceived less as 218 ArtJournal

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 2 Sep 2014 13:48:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions gardensas early as the last decadeof the seventeenthcentury. 14 This early English exam- ple (ca. 1695) atLevens Hall in Westmoreland wasmost probably the work of Graham'sFrench TERRAC gardener,Beaumont. Nevertheless, the impor- tationof the ha-hainto Englishgardens was due less to Beaumont'swork at LevensHall thanto anotherFrench connection. In 1709the first reference in gardenlitera- tureto the ha-haappeared in AntoineJoseph DezallierD'Argenville's (1690-1765) extraor- dinarilyinfluential treatise La Theorieet la Practiquedujardinage.15 By 1712 John James, a respectedarchitect, brought out an English 7 INCHSPIKE translation,16subscribed to by236 prominent figuresin Britishsociety.17 D'Argenville's great work was widelypopular in Englandas an authoritativeapologia for the formalFrench Fig. 4 Conjecturalreconstruction styleof gardening,a stylewhich remained the ofthe early ha-ha at Stowe. SCARP prevailingmode in Britainat least through the time of the third Englishedition of 1743, despitethe significantdevelopments in land- scape architectureat Stowe,Blenheim, and Claremont.Thus, when we read the telling passageson the nature,use, andmeanings of the ha-ha,we shouldremember that D'Argen- ville is describingan innovationin garden designwithin the context of theformal garden. D'Argenvillediscusses three types of perfect gardens,and it is the third type that will concernus. This form of ideallandscape design shouldbe moderatein size,broader than long, andshould descend from the raised terrace on whichthe houseis sitedto theregular groves and otherformal features to eitherside. The authorthen describes how the long terrace of six quartersofparterre "is terminatedby an opening,which the french call a claire-voie, or anAh, Ah with a dryditch at the foot of it."18 Later,we readthat these terminal openings in the gardenwalls, through which one sees the outerparkland unimpeded by a grille,have a drytrench just below the level of thewalks, in order"to prevent the getting over, which sur- prisesthe eye comingnear it, andmakes one cry,Ah! Ah! From whence it takesit name."19 D'Argenville'sha-ha was, within its original Fig. 5 Stowe.Ha-ha. Detail of engraving by RigaudandBaron, View of such parts as are seen from contextof theformal French garden, primarily theBuilding at theHead of theLake/Vetie de ce quise voitdu Batiment a la Tetedu Lac, from Sarah an amusingdevice to enliventhe landscape Bridgeman,pub., Views of Stowe(1739), pl. 2. composition.Placed at the physicalterminus of a walk,its visualfunction was to openup a a martial"Field, which is enclosedin a military morepopular stone revetted variety (Fig. 5), rathersmall gap in the highstone walls sur- Way"than as a delightfulgarden containing had anotherhistory, however, which might roundingthe gardenin orderto enframea manysurprises so "youthink twenty times you havepleased the less martialMr. Shandy more pre-selectedfragmentary view of the country- have no more to see, & of a suddenfind thanUncle Toby or CorporalTrim. The fosse side or parklandbeyond the enclosingfence. yourselfin somenew garden or walk, as finish'd hadbeen used on severaloccasions during the It was, therefore,principally a dramaticpsy- &adorn'd as thatyou left."12 Indeed, Stowe was precedingcenturies in a distinctlynon-military chologicaland visual innovation, for it allowed becoming,in AlexanderPope's happy phrase, context.On a smalldomestic scale, the dry one to experiencedirectly the striking contrast "awork to wonderat." ditch,known as the saut de loup, had been betweenthe ordered formality within the walls usedto surroundFrench kitchen gardens since and the naturalworld beyond.20 It was this This peacefulpleasure garden, increasingly the MiddleAges. Rather grander in scaleand "picturewindow" into the landscapewhich suggestiveof anArcadian Golden Age, with conception,the great seventeenth-century for- was importedinto England and, when greatly its templesto Venus,Bacchus, and Friendship, malgardens at Versaillescontained examples expanded,eventually made possible what be- owed a debtto the fortificationdevice of the of theha-ha, especially about the Grand Trianon. cameknown as lejardinanglais. fosse.3 Thelong dry ditches at Stowe,both of Evenin England,the countryestate of Sir Ascan be seenat Stowe (Fig. 6), theuse of the earlypalisaded turf type and of the later, JamesGraham could boastof a ha-hain its the ha-ha,even whenextended well beyond Fall 1982219

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 2 Sep 2014 13:48:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Fig. 6 Stowe.Bird's-eye view. Drawing by Charles Bridgeman (attrib.) MS. Gough Drawings a. 4, fol. 46.

the narrowopenings at the end of elevated wide to preventthe grazinganimals from takesin theseworks of Natureto be a walks,did not immediatelyand automatically crossingand sufficiently long to openup great laudableif nota virtuoushabit of mind.24 precipitatea rejectionof formalityand regu- panoramasmeant the displacementof large larity.Indeed, the fosse workedbeautifully amountsof earth,much of whichcould be Gradualchanges in gardeningtaste called withinthe formalEnglish garden. Moreover, usedfor otherlandscaping purposes, such as intoquestion the need for ha-has. As the flower D'Argenville'stext lent such authorityto this makingpicturesque hillocks, terraces, and the gardengained in popularityduring the eigh- use of the ha-hathat conservative formal gar- like.22Yet, what is remarkableto a modern teenth century,the employmentof the dry denswith their geometrical parterres and long observeris the strikingdisparity between the ditch as the consummatedevice to open up axes maintainedtheir popularity until almost scale of these extensiveearthworks and the grassylawns and picturesque clumps of trees mid-century,when the innovationsof William (almost) invisibleresult. From the country naturallydiminished. As a result,the ha-ha Kent,"Capability" Brown, and others became house, grassyterraces, or serpentinepaths, wentunderground in an entirely different sense, widelyaccepted by wealthy landowners seeking the ha-haswere cleverlyhidden so thatan only to reappearin recenttimes in a new to honorthe "Geniusof theplace" (Addison). uninterruptedpicture of ruminatinglivestock context-thoughstill performing its traditional Nevertheless,the ha-hawas recognizedby a roamingfreely in naturewould be paintedin functions.Just as theeighteenth-century ha-ha numberof astuteobservers, such as Horace the viewer'simagination. Ditches that were bothcontained animals and offered a surprise Walpole,as the "leadingstep" and "capital visuallyobvious or calledattention to them- to theviewer who peered over the small parapet, stroke"that would with time make possible a selves, even indirectly,would necessarily be so, too, we findthe same purposes fulfilled in whollynew form of Englishgarden. For recognizedas fencesor restrainingdevices, modernzoological garden design. Instead of therebynegating the desiredimpression of thetraditional iron bars of thecage-analogous no soonerwas this simpleenchantment natura naturata.Thus, the ha-hahad to be to the rigidformality and high walls of the made,than levelling, mowing and rolling, hiddenfrom afar while at the sametime pro- Frenchgarden plan-a muchmore open en- followed.The continuous ground of the vidinga pleasantsurprise from close by.The vironmenttoday predominates. The new zoo partwithout the sunkfence was to be mosteffective way of accomplishingthis con- enclosureis an artificial"natural landscape" harmonizedwith the lawn within; and the tradictorygoal of invisiblecontainment and not unlikein intentionthat which was desired gardenin its turnwas to beset free from visualsurprise was literally to go underground. bythe patrons of a Bridgemanor "Capability" its primregularity, that it mightassort Bythe time of itsmature English use, roughly Brownmore than two centuries ago: a parkland withthe wilder country without.2' 1730-50,23the ha-hahad successfully incar- in which the strollercould contemplatethe natedthe poetic clamorings of Addison,Pope, man-made"natural" world and thereby culti- Sucha viewaccorded well with Pope's advice andothers earlier in thecentury for a newtype vate "a virtuoushabit of mind."Likewise, to "followNature" and to "surprise,vary and of relationshipbetween man and nature. The today,the visitor to thezoological park can see concealthe bounds."When handled by inno- miles of dry ditchesthrown across country froma distancethe faunain "nature,"unob- vativegardeners such as William Kent, Stephen estates createdfor contemplationirregular structedby a cageor ironfence. His contem- Switzer,Charles Bridgeman, and many others, landscapegardens with picturesque views of plation and studyis brokenonly when he the ha-hacould successfullyexecute Pope's grassyglades, copses of trees,and serpentine approachesthe shortretaining wall and, en- charge. Indeed,by lookingagain at Stowe lakes.In Addison's prescient view, such a gar- counteringthe concrete fosse (Fig. 7), evinces (Fig. 6), onecan see thatBridgeman, although denwas, unlike the conventional French plan, the startled,onomatopoetic cry, "Ah, Ah!" he didnot invent the ha-ha, developed it signif- icantlybeyond its limiteduse eitherin French naturallyapt to fill the mind with calmness Notes gardensor in militaryfortifications. Instead of andtranquility, and to lay all its turbulent 1 Theview that the Englishlandscape garden allowingmere glimpses from a protecteden- passionsto rest.It givesus a greatinsight evolvedrelatively slowly over the first half of closureof the worldbeyond the gardenwall, intothe contrivance and wisdom of provi- theeighteenth century has come to bewidely Bridgemanlaid the groundwork that led to an dence,and suggests innumerable subjects acceptedduring the lastdecade. For a brief idealizedEnglish garden landscape. formeditation. I cannot but think the very discussionof this point, see the chapter "Addi- Diggingthese ditches sufficiently deep and complacencyand satisfaction which a man sonand Pope Ignored" in MilesHadfield, The 220 ArtJournal

This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Tue, 2 Sep 2014 13:48:33 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 14See Willis,"From Desert to Eden,"p. 153, especiallynote 8. 15The Treatise was often reprinted and translated: in Pariseditions appeared in 1709(anony- mously),1713, 1722, 1732, 1747, and 1760; in Londonin 1712,1728, and 1743; in Augsburg in 1731;and in TheHague a piratededition came out in 1711, 1715,and 1739which attributedthe text to oneAlexandre LeBlond. 16See Miles Hadfield, "John James and the Formal Gardenin England,"Connoisseur, CXLIII, 575(February, 1959), pp. 20-22. 17Among the important subscribers were Joseph Addison,George and Thomas Pitt, Sir Joseph Jekyll,Coke of Melbourne, and perhaps Nicolas Hawksmoor. 18D'Argenville, Theory (James trans.), 1712, p. 28. 19Ibid., p. 77 20Willis, "From Desert to Eden,"p. 153,n. 8, Fig. 7 Washington,D.C. The National Zoological Garden. pointsout thatthe juxtapositionof a formal gardenwith a lesscomposed countryside, made EnglishLandscape Garden, Aylesbury, 1977. of GreatBritain..., London,1742, third possibleby the ha-ha, was illustrated as early 2 LawrenceSterne, Tristram Shandy, New York, edition,Vol. III, Appendix, p. 275,quoted in asthe second quarter of theseventeenth century 1960,p. 169.Sterne completed the ninth and GeorgeClarke, "Military Gardening at Stowe," bythe architect and stage-designer Josef Furt- lastvolume of TristramShandy in 1767,by p. 1254. tenbachthe Elder (1591 - 1667)in hisArchi- whichtime the ha-ha had begun to wanein 8 Clarke,"Military Gardening atStowe," p. 1254. tecturaCivilis..., Ulm,1628, plate 13. popularitywithin many social and intellectual 9 Ibid.,p. 1256.Cobham himself was a widely 21 HoraceWalpole, The History of theModern circles.The decline quickened as thecentury experiencedmilitary officer, having served with Tastein Gardening(also known as Essay on ended.By the firstdecade of the nineteenth Marlboroughin King William III's wars in the ModernGardening), first printed in 1771, century,Sterne's gentle rebuke had been re- LowLands-the same wars, coincidentally, in thoughwithheld until 1780, when it appeared placedby harshercensure, as is evidentin a whichUncle Toby suffered injury to hisgroin. as partof Vol.IV of Walpole'sAnecdotes of passagefrom Humphrey Repton's Enquiry Cobham'sfamiliarity with fortification tech- Paintingin England;quoted in Willis,"From into the Changesof Tastein LandscapeGar- niquesand devices may therefore be assumed. Desertto Eden,"p. 153. dening..., London, 1806, p. 171: "where However,whether he cameindependently to 22According to Clarke,"Military Gardening at groundis dividedby sunkfences, imaginary the ideaof introducingthese devices into a Stowe,"p. 1256,"(I)t wasnot untilabout freedomis dearlypurchased at theexpense of gardenor whether he borrowedthe idea from 1725that the ha-ha was perfected in itsfinal actualconfinement." Marlborough'sgardens at Blenheimor from form,as a drytrench with a slopeon the outer 3 Sterne,Tristram Shandy. the followingpassage in StephenSwitzer's side and a verticalstone wall built up to 4 JohnMuller, Treatise concerning the elemen- IchnographiaRustica, 1718, cannot be known groundlevel on the inner side." Once perfected, tarypart of Fortification,1746, quoted in with certainty:"I needsay littleas to the theha-ha appeared almost simultaneously at GeorgeClarke, "Military Gardening at Stowe," reducingFortification into Gardening 'tis what Houghton,Kensington, Eastbury, Blenheim, CountryLife, CLI, May 18, 1972, p. 1254. will, I believe,be verypleasing to all the andother country estates. 5 Of Stowe,Rousseau writes in La Nouvelle martialGenius's of ourCountry; and it seems 23 SeeDavid Jacques's short article "The land- Heloise,1759 (Jean Jacques Rousseau, Oeuvres somewhatof Wonder,that it has not been scapegarden 1710 to 1730,"in TheGarden. A completes,II, Editions Gallimard, Bibliotheque madeUse of beforenow. The first that was Celebrationof OneThousand Years ofBritish de la Pleiade,Paris, 1961, p. 484)that it "est madeUse of, of this Kind, was theAmbit of the Gardening,a guide to the exhibition presented un composede lieuxtres beaux et trespit- Gardensat Blenheim;but that is afterthe bythe Victoria and Albert Museum, 23 Mayto toresquesdont les aspectsont ete choisisen ancientRoman manner." For a discussionof 26August, 1979. differenspays, et dont tout paroitnaturel militarygardens and of themilitary nature of 24Joseph Addison, in a letteraddressed to the exceptel'assemblage, comme dans les jardins Blenheim,in particular,see Christopher Hussey, editorof TheSpectator, 6 September,1712, de la Chinedont je viensde vousparler. Le English Gardensand Landscapes1700- quotedin Hadfield,The English Landscape maitreet le createurde cette superbe solitude y 1750, NewYork, 1967, p. 35. Garden,p. 17. a memefait construire des ruines, des temples, 10B.M.Add. MSS 47030 fols. 156-59. First d'anciensedifices, et les temsainsi que les publishedby A. Amherst, AHistory of Garden- S.A.Mansbach, Assistant Professor of Art lieuxy sontrassembles avec une magnificence ing in England,London, 1895, and (more Historyat the Universityof Houston,is plusqu'humaine." accessibly)quoted in PeterWillis, Charles authorof Visionsof Totality:Laszlo Moholy- 6 The followingdiscussion relies on several Bridgemanand theEnglish Landscape Gar- Nagy,El Lissitzky, and Theo Van Doesburg, Ann sources:George Clarke, "Military Gardening den, London,1977, pp. 110-11. Arbor,UMI Press, 1980. atStowe"; idem, "The History of Stowe-VIII: 11Willis, Charles Bridgeman and theEnglish Militarygardening-Bridgeman and the ha- LandscapeGarden, p. 111. ha," Stoic,XXIV, 1, pp. 11-15; andPeter 12Ibid. Willis,"From Desert to Eden:Charles Bridge- 13See also CharlesStanislas de Malortiede man's'Capital Stroke'," The Burlington Mag- Martemont,The Theory of Fieldfortification, azine,CXIV, 840 (March 1973), pp. 150 - 57. London,1810; and Hector Straith, A Treatise 7 DanielDefoe, A Tour Through the Whole Island on Fortification...,Croydon, 1833. Fall 1982 221

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