‘Croome House, Worcestershire’ in John Britton and Edward Wedlake Brayley, The Beauties of England and Wales, or, Delineations, Topographical, Historical, and Descriptive, of Each County. London: Vernor and Hood, 1801–1816. E.26.1–16

The work of Brown was often compared to that of an artist. In Britton’s Beauties his interventions at Croome were described with effusive praise: ‘It has been well observed of this now charming place, that nature has contributed but little to its beauties; but that the power of art, and the transcendent skill of Brown, have been blessed with uncommon success. Here, wood, water, and ornamental buildings are dispersed with great taste… there is now, on what was lately almost a barren heath, an exuberance of timber in full growth, as well as rising plantations, which are dispersed with such taste and judgement as to produce not only picturesque beauty, but even magnificent scenery, where it might by many have been supposed that art was unavailable’.