‘Reading’ nature: reflections on ideological persistence and the politics of the countryside

The peculiarly British difference between nature conservation interests, represented by the Nature Conservancy Council, and landscape interests, represented by the Countryside Commission, is seen to have deep historical roots in complex understandings of the natural world which can be revealed by a study of the arts. Both the work of John Constable, and that of Wordsworth and the Lake poets are considered, and Ruskin seen as a figure of great significance.