As part of a series of lunchtime lectures for our Neighbourhood Learning Summer School 2026, join us for a beautiful afternoon at the stunning Holbrook Manor — where a delicious 2-course lunch and a captivating lecture combine for a perfect midday escape.
The Grand Tour — with its carefully prescribed route of ancient ruins, sun-drenched Italian landscapes and must-see works of art — transformed British culture in the eighteenth century.
Garden historian Laura Mayer explores the profound relationship between this aristocratic rite of passage and the evolution of the English landscape garden. For the British elite used their gardens as topographical memoirs of their travels, sculpting the land to mirror the emotional resonance of a landscape painting and blending the wildness of nature with the order of antiquity.
But the Grand Tour was also a socially-sanctioned cover for all types of excess — from gambling and pillaging, to whoring and drinking. Notorious gentlemen's clubs were set up to encourage aspiring architects and landscape designers to mingle with would-be patrons, revelling in the intersection of debauchery with serious scholarship.
Come along as Laura reveals this gloriously dual nature of the Tour — from classical education to Continental vice — and uncovers just how these networks of wealthy connoisseurs shaped the sweeping Arcadian landscape gardens of the Georgian gentry.
A leisurely lunch, brilliant company, and a story that is rather harder to put down than you might expect!
Book your place…
For a full course description, including details on the tutor, venue, accommodation (where applicable) and more, visit our full listings page by clicking here.
For a full course description, including details on the tutor, venue, accommodation (where applicable) and more, visit our full listings page by clicking here.
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Laura Mayer is an independent lecturer, writer and researcher. She has an MA in Garden History and a PhD in eighteenth-century patronage, both from the University of Bristol. Originally an Art Historian with a side of Spanish, she accidentally fell into garden history whilst working at the Alhambra in Granada. Laura has published extensively – particularly on Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and Humphry Repton – as well as on the historic gardens of Cambridgeshire.
Click here to find out more about Laura Mayer and her other available courses -
Nestled in the Somerset countryside near Wincanton, Holbrook Manor is a charming Georgian house offering comfort, calm, and character — ideal for residential courses and retreats. With elegant rooms, home-cooked meals, and access to the indoor pool, spa bath, sauna, and steam room, it’s the perfect place to learn, relax, and recharge.
The venue has plenty of free parking, accessible course rooms and some accessible bedrooms. There are also a few bedrooms which are dog friendly.
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Just an open mind and plenty of enthusiasm!
