William Miller had started as a gardener’s boy, rather like Joseph Paxton (1801-1865), designer of the Crystal Palace. By the end of his career he had become an important designer of large parks and gardens; around 1900 he set up his own garden design business in Berkswell, Coventry. He often adopted the ‘S’ shape, a line of beauty thought to be inherent in all successful works of art. This idea had been popularised by the artist William Hogarth (1697-1764), who published a treatise called The Analysis of Beauty in 1753. Miller approached his tasks like a decorative pattern maker, rather than someone working in three dimensions. The garden incorporated parterres, statues, fountains raised on mounds, flower beds and paths, as well as administrative buildings and lavatories.