John Atkinson Grimshaw (1836-1893)

Waterloo Lake, Roundhay Park, Leeds, became a popular subject with the artist. He was drawn to it's ancient woods whose trees he depicted silhouetted against the atmospheric serenity of the lake. In 1872 Grimshaw received an unusual commission to paint three views for submission to a Committee of the House of Commons. This was in connection with the Leeds Corporation Improvement Bill in which the city sought to purchase the Roundhay Estate and create a public park. The estate was created in the early 19th Century by Thomas Nicholson and was formed out of a medieval hunting ground of the De Lacy family of Pontefract Castle. The landscape's impressive natural features were enhanced with waterfalls, woodland walks and a thirty three acre lake which was built in just two years by soldiers returning from the Napoleonic wars, and was hence appropriately named 'Waterloo Lake'.