William Beckford takes over the lease of the estate and initiates works

In 1793 another Englishman, William Beckford, took over the lease of the estate and explored its natural qualities through the creation of a landscaped garden that emphasised the picturesque, the beautiful and the sublime.

Beckford's departure in 1795 left the property in a state of abandonment but its progressive decay, despite being regretted, deepened a feeling of melancholy that suited the romantic taste, as masterfully expressed by Lord Byron’s poem of 1809.