Stowe House
Encyclopedia
Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe
, Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is the home of Stowe School
, an independent school
. The gardens (known as Stowe Landscape Gardens), a significant example of the English Landscape Garden
style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust
in 1989 and are open to the public. The house is open to the public during the school holiday
s, and there is usually a daily guided tour during term time
. The parkland surrounding the gardens is open 365 days a year and access is free.
, they were first recorded as such at Witney
in Oxfordshire
. Later from 1546 they had been renting a sheep farm in Burton Dassett
in Warwickshire
. The Stowe estate was lease
d from 1571 by Peter Temple, his son John Temple bought the manor & estate of Stowe in 1589 and it became the home of the Temple family. In the late 17th century, the house was completely rebuilt by Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet
c.1683 on the present site. This house is now the core of the mansion known today. The old medieval stronghold was located near Stowe parish church that is about 100 yards to the south-east of the current house. Having been redesigned subsequently over the years, the whole front is now 916 feet (279.2 m) in length and can be seen as you approach from the direction of Buckingham. A long, straight driveway ran from Buckingham all the way to the front of the house, passing through a 60-foot (18 m) Corinthian
arch on the brow of the hill on the way. The driveway approach to the house is still in use today, although it no longer runs through the arch.
British and Foreign aristocrats & royalty frequently stayed at the house throughout the 18th & 19th centuries. In 1725 Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
and his wife stayed for two weeks. The 1730s & 1740s saw visits by Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk
, William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath
; Frederick, Prince of Wales
along with other friends of Lord Cobham (see the Temple of Friendship) who were frequent guests. In 1750 John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol
attended a reception at the house. In 1754 Stanisław August Poniatowski visited the gardens. The 1760s saw two visits by Prince Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau
as part of his tours of English gardens in preparation for the creation of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
. 1768 saw the visit of Christian VII of Denmark
. In July 1770 there was a House party
lasting several days whose guests included Princess Amelia, Horace Walpole
, Lady Mary Coke
& William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
. The Prince Regent the future George IV came in 1805 & 1808. Louis XVIII
came in January 1808 for several days, the party included Charles
, Louis's brother and successor as King of France, Louis Philippe
then the Duke of Orléans who would be France's last ever king & Louis Henri, Prince of Condé. 1810 saw the visit of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
. The Tsar Alexander I of Russia
visited in 1810 & in 1814 Grand Duke Michael
of Russia. 1816 saw a visit by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. Then in 1818 Nicholas I of Russia
while still grand duke visited, the same year saw the first of many visits by William IV
then Duke of Clarence after his death his widow Queen Adelaide
stayed in 1840, that year also saw visits by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
& his son Prince George
. In 1843 there were several visits by German royalty, Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
and his wife Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
stayed at the house, John of Saxony & Wilhelm I, German Emperor then a prince. Queen Victoria
& Prince Albert stayed at the house for several days in 1845. Due to financial problems the family let the estate to Prince Philippe, Count of Paris from 1889 to 1894, he died that year in the house, his body was laid in state
in the Marble Saloon, during which The prince of Wales
paid his respects.
Famous non-royal visitors included: Alexander Pope
a frequent visitor from 1724 onwards, in 1726 Pope visited in the company of Jonathan Swift
& John Gay
; another writer and friend to Lord Cobham who visited in the 1720s was William Congreve
; in 1730 James Thomson wrote the poem Seasons after visiting the gardens; in 1732 Gilbert West
a nephew of Lord Cobham's, wrote his poem Stowe after visiting the gardens; 1750 saw the first of eight visits by Sanderson Miller
; the 1750s also saw visits by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
; in 1770 Thomas Whately
wrote an extensive description of the gardens; François-Joseph Bélanger
visited in 1777-8 and drew the gardens. In April 1786 John Adams
(the future second President of the United States on tour with Thomas Jefferson
—who would serve as his vice president before becoming President himself) visited the Stow and other notable house in the area, after visiting them he wrote in his diary "Stowe, Hagley
, and Blenheim
, are superb; Woburn
, Caversham
, and the Leasowes
are beautiful. Wotton
is both great and elegant, though neglected". However his diary he was also damming about the means used to finance the large estates, and he did not think that the embellishments to the landscape that the great country houses provided would suit the more rugged American countryside. William Crotch
visited in 1805, as did Charles James Fox
in the party that included the Prince Regent.
is shown by the family name being changed to Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville by the late 18th-century. The following family members were the owners of the estate and creators of the house & gardens as they now exist:
of Buckinghamshire and also Justice of the peace
.
Sir Thomas Temple first purchased a Knight
hood in 1603 from James I
then purchased from the same monarch the baronetcy in 1611. He was the first member of the family to serve as a Member of Parliament
in 1588-9.
Sir Peter Temple was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell
and served as a colonel in the parliamentary
army during the English Civil War
.
When the War of the Spanish Succession
broke out in 1702 the 4th Baronet was appointed a colonel by William III
, he was later promoted to Lieutenant General
. First created Baron Cobham in 1714 by King George I
, then in 1718 Viscount Cobham by the same king. In 1715 he married Anne Halsey an heiress of a rich London
brewer
, she bought a dowry
of £20,000. He was a member of the Kit-Cat Club
where he probably first met fellow members John Vanbrugh and Joseph Addison
whose writings on garden design influenced the development of the gardens at Stowe. Cobham was the centre of the Whig party grouping of Cobhamites
. His sister Hester
was created Countess of Temple in her own right in 1749 by King George II
, from which her son, heir to the estate inherited his title as 2nd Earl Temple.
Richard Grenville the future 2nd Earl Temple, married Anna Chamber in 1737, an heiress with a £50,000 fortune. He was leader of the Whig group known as the Grenvillite
s. King George II made Earl Temple a Knight of the Garter
in 1760. Earl Temple was an active supporter of John Wilkes
. When the Earl's cousin George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe
died in 1762 he left his Vanbrugh designed house Eastbury Park and estates in Dorset to Earl Temple. Who attempted to sell the house, but as no buyer could be found, so demolished most of the building using the marble from the house in the Marble Saloon at Stowe. The Eastbury estate was finally sold in 1806.
The 2nd Earl Temple's sister Hester
married William Pitt the Elder
who became Prime Minister
of Great Britain. Their son William Pitt the Younger
also served as Prime Minister. George Grenville
the brother of the 2nd Earl Temple was also to serve as Prime Minister. William Grenville youngest brother of the 1st Marquess of Buckingham also served as Prime Minister, it was during his premiership that the Atlantic slave trade was abolished
. The final family member to be Prime Minister was William Ewart Gladstone
, he married Catherine Glynne
the granddaughter of Catherine sister of the 1st Marquess of Buckingham. Other notable politician
s in the family included Thomas Grenville
the brother of the 1st Marquess, Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
the father-in-law
of the 1st Marquess, Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
brother of William Pitt the elder, George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent
brother of the 1st Duke and the 1st Marquess's nephew Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke
.
George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, undertook the grand tour in 1774, in 1775 he married a Catholic heiress Mary Nugent, who had an income of £14,000 a year. He was created 1st Marquess of Buckingham in 1784 by King George III
. On the death in 1788 of the Marquess's father-in-law Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
he inherited the Earl's Irish (8900 acres (3,601.7 ha)) and Cornish estates.
The 2nd Marquess of Buckingham married in 1796 Anna Eliza Brydges the daughter and heiress of James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos
who had died in 1789. He thus acquires this wife's estates in Hampshire and Middlesex. Up until 1822 the family had been staunch Whigs, but in order to obtain the long sought Dukedom the family became Tories. The Dukedom was bestowed in 1822 by King George IV
on Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 2nd Marquess who became the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
. The deal was to support the then Prime Minister Lord Liverpool
's administration. The family spent a great deal of money to control several rotten boroughs, including Old Sarum
, whose M.P.s
switch their support to the prime minister, although the 1832 Reform Act
would end this practise. The 1st Duke was a Colonel
in the Royal Buckinghamshire Militia (King's Own)
, he led his battalion
in 1814 to France under the command of The Duke of Wellington
.
The 2nd Duke through his mother Anna was descended from the House of Plantagenet
and was an active member of the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
, his support of which added to the debt
s of £1,464,959 (well over £100,000,000 in 2003 terms) he had accrued by 1845, he was called the Greatest Debtor in the world. The Duke left to live abroad in August 1847 to escape his creditors. That year saw the sale of the family's London home Buckingham House in Pall Mall
. In March 1848 the family estates in Ireland
, Hampshire
, Gloucestershire
, Somerset
, Cornwall
, Oxfordshire
, Northamptonshire
& Middlesex
some 36000 acres (14,568.7 ha) of land, were sold. Followed by the most valuable of the painting
s, furniture and other art works at Stowe, over 21,000 bottles of wine
and over 500 of spirits
in the wine cellar
s below the Marble Saloon, were all sold from 15 August to 7 October 1848 by Christies. The auction was held in The State Dining Room, but only raised £75,400. At the end of the sales the estate had contract to the core 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) in Buckinghamshire. The garden staff were cut from 40 to 4.
Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (10 September 1823–26 March 1889), usually shortened to Richard Temple-Grenville, was a British statesman of the 19th century, and a close friend and subordinate of Benjamin Disraeli. He was styled Marquess of Chandos until the death of his father in 1861.
With the death of the third Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1889, there remained no heirs-male to the dukedom, so it became extinct. After which ownership of the estate was separated from the title Earls Temple of Stowe
which passed by special remainder in the letters patent creating it through the female line to a nephew of the 3rd Duke William Temple-Gore-Langton
the son of Lady Anna Eliza Mary Grenville sister of the 3rd Duke. The fall of the family engendered Lord Rosebery's
comment "The glories of the House built up with so much care and persistence, vanished like a snow wreath".
After the death of her father the 3rd Duke, Lady Mary Morgan-Grenville tried to sell house and estate for £200,000, but nobody wished to buy it. It was then rented until 1894 after which the house remained unoccupied until 1901 when Lady Mary returned as a widow, her husband Major
Luis Morgan-Grenville having died in 1896 and she lived in the house until 1908 when she passed it onto her unmarried son as he came of age
at 21.
The last inheritor of the estate Rev. Luis C.F.T. Morgan-Grenville, due to prodigious debts, sold the house, gardens and part of the park in 1921 to a Mr Harry Shaw for £50,000 who intended to present the house to the nation. But being unable to pay for an endowment
to maintain the building it was sold again in 1922 to the governor
s of what became Stowe School, this opened on the 11th May 1923. The rest of the estate was sold as separate lots, Clough Williams-Ellis
purchased the Grand Avenue to prevent its felling to create building plots, later he gifted it to the school. The gardens remained in the ownership of the School until 1989 when an anonymous donor provided funds for an endowment and the National Trust assumed ownership. In 1997 the ownership of the house passed to the Stowe House Preservation Trust, the major aim of which is to restore the building.
The exterior of the House has not been significantly changed since 1779 although, in the first decade of the 19th century, the Egyptian Hall was added beneath the North Portico as a secondary entrance.
a rare example of Soane using the Gothic
style.
The 1st Duke inherited his Uncle, Lord Grenville's library, described in 1824 as
Following the bankruptcy of the 2nd Duke, much of the valuable collection was sold. The library has provided Provenance
to many valued manuscripts including the Stowe 2 Psalter, Stowe 54, the Stowe Breviary
and the "Stowe manuscripts
".
overlooking the gardens. This is one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture
in Britain
. The main front stretches over 460 feet (140.2 m). Divided into five major sections, these are: the central block around 130 feet (39.6 m) in width, the lower linking sections 75 feet (22.9 m) wide that contain on the west the State Dining Room and on the east The Large Library, then at the ends the two pavilions the same height as the central block about 90 feet (27.4 m) in width. The central block and the end pavilions are articulated at piano nobile
level with unfluted Corinthian pilasters over 35 feet (10.7 m) tall which becomes a hexastyle portico supporting a pediment in the middle of the facade, there is a minor order of 48 Ionic columns over 20 feet (6.1 m) high that runs the length of the facade. The portico fronts a loggia
that contains the doorway to the Marble Saloon, this is flanked by large niches that used to contain ancient Roman statues, between the columns of the portico used to be the marble sculpture of Vertumnus
and Pomona
by Laurent Delvaux
now in the V&A. Above the niches is a large frieze on a Bacchic theme, this is based on an engraving in James Stuart
's and Nicholas Revett
's Antiquities of Athens of the frieze on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates
. There is a flight of thirty three steps the full width of the portico which descends to the South Lawn. The staircase has solid parapet
s either side that end in sculptures of lions, 1927 replacements for the original bronze
lions, standing and resting a paw on a ball (sold in 1921 and now in Stanley Park, Blackpool
), that were of a slightly larger scale. Either side of the portico are two tripartite windows separated and flanked by Ionic columns, these are enclosed with an arch that contains a carved Portland stone
tondo
in the tympanum
with carvings of The four seasons
, and is in turn flanked by twin Corinthian pilasters the same size as the columns of the portico. The facade is surmounted by a balustraded parapet
, in the centre of the parapet of the east pavilion is a sculpture of two reclining figures of Ceres and Flora
the corresponding figures on the west pavilion are of Liberty
and Religion
. The end pavilions each have three tripartite windows matching those on the central block, the tondos of which are each carved with a sacrificial scene. The ground floor is lower than the floor above, about 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and visually acts as a base to the facade, it is of banded rustication
with simple arched windows beneath each window on the upper floor. In 1790 a balustrade
was added parallel to the façade that ran from the bottom of the steps the full length of the house and then returned at both ends, there are a series of 30 pedestal
s along the balustrade, that until their sale in 1921 were topped by bronze urn
s. This was probably added to keep visitors from the lower windows of the house, and formal flower beds were laid out in the area.
ed, as were several fittings including chimneypieces
. Some of the family portraits and other items associated with the house have been bought back and are now on display in the House. Several owners of Stowe undertook the Grand Tour
, Earl Temple spent 1729-33 in France
, Switzerland
& Italy
, the 1st Marquess in 1774 visited Italy, the 2nd Duke before he inherited his title in 1817, and the 1st Duke in 1827-29 toured the Mediterranean Sea
aboard his yacht
the Anna Eliza named after his wife. Many of the art works
that adorned the house were acquired both during these trips and through the 1st Duke inheriting his father-in-law's art collection. The 1st Duke before he inherited Stowe, also bought paintings at the sale of the Orleans Collection
in 1798 and continued to buy paintings for another twenty years as well as books, engravings and the Stowe Service of Worcester Porcelain, as well as archaeological specimens. The main rooms are mainly located on the 1st floor (referred to in the U.S.A. as the 2nd floor) Piano nobile
, a few are on the ground floor (referred to in the U.S.A. as the 1st floor).
The major rooms are:
, Sitting room
, Water closet
, Manuscript room, Gun room and Plunge pool
. The rest of the ground floor was given over to the service areas
. The house has low wings that are set back and project from the east and west pavilions of the south front. These extend north before projecting even further east and west. The full length of the house being over 900 feet (274.3 m). These wings to the east included the riding school
, coach house
s and at the extreme east the stables designed by Vanbrugh. The west area includes the kitchen
(still used as such by the school), the laundry
, the dairy
and at the extreme west the 138 feet (42.1 m) orangery
, designed by Vanbrugh. Although the Central Pavilion of the south front appears to be only two floors high, there are in fact bedrooms over the State Music & Drawing rooms, these are lit by windows facing respectively east and west. The centre is filled by the Marble Saloon which rises to the full height of the building. There are more bedrooms on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of the north front, and the west and east pavilions of the south front, where the 2nd floor is disguised in the same way as in the central pavilion.
, containing extensive and detailed information on the creation of both the house and gardens.
The first large scale operation was to dredge
the lakes and other water features. 320,000 tonnes of silt
had to be removed. The wall of the ha-ha had largely collapsed and had to be rebuilt by hand. It was also found that very few trees survived before the 3rd Duke's time; he had all the mature trees felled to sell for their timber
in order to raise cash. There had been a few plantings of commercial softwood
, including a spruce
plantation on the site of the Saxon Deities. These were felled. Further thinning was carried out, including reopening views between the various buildings and monuments. Replanting of 20,000 trees and shrubs followed, using species present in the original garden. Paths which had become overgrown were re-excavated and eventual covered in gravel
from local pits.
Over 100 pieces of statuary
had been sold from the gardens in 1848, 1921 and 1922, so it was decided to replace them gradually with replica
s as and when funds could be raised. In 1989-90 Peter Inskip assessed the condition of the buildings. Work on the restoration of the buildings
, based on this survey, was then prioritised. The major restorations have been the Grenville Column (1991), the Temple of Ancient Virtue (1992), the Oxford Gates and Lodges (1994), the Temple of Venus (1995) and the Temple of Concord & Victory (1996). This last had been severely compromised when 16 columns had been removed to build the new school chapel in 1926. Replacement columns were carved and the building re-roofed at the cost of £1,300,000. The cost of this first stage was £10,000,000, the money coming from several sources: a public appeal, the Heritage Lottery Fund
and grants from English Heritage
as well as private donors and other grant-giving bodies. The restoration process adopted an approach where each building, or element of the gardens was informed by archaeology. In order to make informed decisions about what to restore and why, archaeological
techniques such as geophysics
, excavation, building recording and monitoring in the form of an archaeological watching brief were all utilised.
In 2002 the World Monuments Fund
placed Stowe house on its List of Most Endangered Sites
. The school had done its best to keep the house in good repair, including re-roofing the State Dining Room in 1990, repair of the north elevation of the West Pavilion in 1992 and the repair of the Marble Saloon's oculus
skylight in 1994. On taking over ownership of the house in 1997, the Stowe House Preservation Trust commissioned a survey in order to scope the problem and come up with a restoration plan. The result was a six-phase plan, starting with the most urgent work. The estimated cost in 2002 for all six phases was nearly £40 million.
The phases are: Phase 1, the restoration
of the North Front and Colonnades, started in the summer of 2000 and completed in July 2002, much of the money coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the Getty Grant Programme
and Shanks First Fund. Phase 2, the restoration of the Central Pavilion and South Portico, took place from July 2003 to July 2006, thanks to funding by an anonymous
U.S.
philanthropist
; the interior of the Marble Saloon was also undertaken. Phase 3, the restoration of the South Front, commenced in the autumn of 2009 and has been divided into sub-phases A, The Large Library roof, facades and ceiling completed July 2010; B, The Eastern Pavilion roof, facades and garden, completed July 2010; C, The Western Pavilion roof, and facades; D, The State Dining room, roof, facades, ceiling and garden. If the funds can be raised it is hoped to complete Phase 3 in 2011 or 2012. Phase 4, the restoration of the West court and building range. Phase 5, the restoration of the Eastern court and building range. Phase 6, the restoration of the State Rooms (the Marble Saloon and Large Library have been restored).
was created in three main phases, showing the development of garden design in 18th-century England (this is the only garden where all three designers worked):
After Brown left, Earl Temple who had inherited Stowe from his uncle Lord Cobham, turned to a garden designer called Richard Woodward, who had been gardener at Wotton House
the Earl's previous home. The work of naturalising the landscape started by Brown was continued under Woodward, this was accomplished by the mid 1750s. At the same time Earl Temple turned his attention to the various temples and monuments. He altered several of Vanburgh's and Gibbs's temples to make them conform to his taste for Neoclassical architecture
, to accomplish this he employed Giovanni Battista Borra
from 1752 to 1756, also at this time several monuments were moved to other parts of the garden. Earl Temple made further alterations in the gardens from the early 1760s, this is when several of the older structures were demolished and this time he turned to his cousin Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
who was assisted by Borra, who's most notable design was the Corinthian Arch.
The next owner of Stowe, the Marquess of Buckingham made relatively few changes to the gardens, he planted the two main approach avenues, added 28 acres (11.3 ha) to the garden east of the Cobham Monument and altered a few buildings, Vincenzo Valdrè was his architect, most notably the Queen's Temple and built a few new structures, such as The Menagerie with its formal garden and the Buckingham Lodges at the southern end of the Grand Avenue. He also created the formal gardens within the balustrade he added to the south front of the house and demolished a few more monuments in the gardens.
The last significant changes to the gardens were made by the next two owners of Stowe, the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, he succeeded in buying the Lamport Estate in 1826, this was immediately to the east of the gardens, adding 17 acres (6.9 ha) to the south-east of the gardens to form the Lamport gardens, this work was overseen by the head gardener, James Brown, he remodelled the eastern arm of the Octagon Lake and created a cascade beyond the Palladian Bridge, from 1840 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson created rock and water gardens in the new garden, the architect Edward Blore
was also employed to build the Lamport Lodge and Gates as a carriage entrance, he also remodelled the Water Stratford Lodge at the start of the Oxford Avenue.
As Stowe evolved from an English baroque garden into a pioneering landscape
park, the gardens became an attraction for many of the nobility, including political leaders. Indeed, Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced. Wars and rebellions were reputedly discussed among the garden's many temples; the artwork of the time reflected this by portraying caricature
s of the better-known politicians of history taking their ease in similar settings. Stowe began to evolve into a series of natural views to be appreciated from a perambulation rather than from a well-chosen central point. In its final form the Gardens were the largest and most elaborate example of what became known in Europe as the English garden
. The main gardens, enclosed within the ha-has (sunken or trenched fences) over four miles (6 km) in length, cover over 400 acres (161.9 ha), but the park also has many buildings, including gate lodges and other monuments.
Many of the temples and monuments in the garden celebrate the political ideas of the Whig party and include quotes by many of the writers who are part of Augustan literature
, also philosophers
and ideas belonging to the Age of Enlightenment
.
The fame of the gardens was spread by various means.
Alexander Pope
who first stayed at the house in 1724, wrote the following passage celebrating the design of Stowe as part of a tribute to Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
. The full title of the 1st edition (1731) was An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Earl of Burlington, Occasion'd by his Publishing Palladio's Designs of the Baths, Arches, Theatres, &c. of Ancient Rome. This passage consists of lines 47-70 of the poem.
In 1730 James Thomson published his poem Autumn, part of his four works The Seasons, these are lines 1033-81, which are about Stowe:
In 1732 Lord Cobham's nephew Gilbert West
wrote a lengthy poem The Gardens of the Right Honourable Richard Viscount Cobham that is actually a guide to the gardens in verse form. Charles Bridgeman commissioned 15 engraving
s of the gardens from Jacques Rigaud, these were published in 1739. In 1744 Benton Seeley published A Description of the Gardens of Lord Cobham at Stow Buckinghamshire. In 1748 William Gilpin
produced the Views of the Temples and other Ornamental Buildings in the Gardens at Stow followed in 1749 by A Dialogue upon the Gardens at Stow. A Pirated copy of all three books was published in 1750 by George Bickham
as The Beauties of Stow. To cater to the large number of French visitors in 1748 a French guidebook Les Charmes de Stow was published. In the 1750s Jean-Jacques Rousseau
had visited the gardens and his writings about the gardens helped spread their fame and influence throughout Europe, he had this to say 'Stowe is composed of very beautiful and very picturesque spots chosen to represent different kinds of scenery, all of which seem natural except when considered as a whole, as in the Chinese gardens of which I was telling you. The master and creator of this superb domain has also erected ruins, temples and ancient buildings, like the scenes, exhibit a magnificence which is more than human'. George Louis Le Rouge published in 1777 Détails de nouveaux jardins à la mode that included engravings of buildings at Stowe as well as at other famous gardens in Britain. In Germany Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld published Theorie der Gartenkunst in 5 volumes in Leipzig
1779–1785, that included Stowe. The last edition of the Seeley guide was published in 1827. In 1805-9 John Claude Nattes
painted 105 wash drawings of both the house and gardens.
The main divisions of the garden are:
, from Buckingham
to the south and the Oxford Avenue from the south-west, this leads to the forecourt of the house. The Grand Avenue was created in the 1770s, 100 feet (30.5 m) in width and one and half miles in length, lined originally with elm
trees. The elms succumbed in the 1970s to Dutch elm disease
and was replanted with alternate beech
& chestnut
trees. The Grand Avenue by the Corinthian Arch turns to the west to join the Queen's Drive that connects to the Oxford Avenue just below the Boycott Pavilions. The Oxford Avenue was planted in the 1790s.
The buildings in this area are:
of the house, this has in its centre:
s to the south of the House down to the Octagon Lake and a mile and a half beyond to the Corinthian Arch beyond which stretches the Grand Avenue of over a mile and a half to Buckingham
. This is the oldest area of the gardens, there were walled gardens on the site of the south lawn from the 1670s that belonged to the old house. These gardens were altered in the 1680s when the house was rebuilt on the present site. It was again remodelled by Bridgeman from 1716. The lawns with the flanking woods took on their current character from 1741 when 'Capability' Brown re-landscaped this area.
The buildings in this area are:
, that step down to a branch of the Octagon Lake. The adoption of the name eludes to Elysium
, and the monuments in this area are to the virtuous dead of both Britain
and ancient Greece
. The main species of trees originally planted included alder
, elm, chestnut & pine
also Ivy
was planted and encouraged to grow over dead tree-trunks to create a suitable melancholy
mood. The buildings in this area are:
This is a copy of the bridge at Wilton House
, the main difference is that the Stowe version is designed to be used by horse drawn carriages so is set lower with shallow ramps instead of steps on the approach. Completed in 1738 probably under the direction of Gibbs. Of five arches, the central wide and segmental with carved keystone
, the two flanking semi-circular also with carved keystones, the two outer segmental. There is a balustraded parapet
, the middle three arches also supporting an open pavilion, above the central arch this consists of colonnade
s of four full and two half columns of unfluted Roman Ionic order. Above the flanking arches there are pavilions with arches on all four sides, these have engaged columns on their flanks and ends of the same order as the colonnade which in turn support pediments, the roof is of slate, with an elaborate plaster ceiling. It originally crossed a stream that emptied from the Octagon Lake, when the lake was enlarged and deepened, made more natural in shape in 1752, this part of the stream became a branch of the lake.
, was created from 1826 by Richard Temple-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and his gardener James Brown, from 1840 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson and the architect Edward Blore
as an ornamental rock
and water garden
. The buildings in this area are:
s with the original intention of creating a lake. Mature Lime
and Elm trees were transplanted
from elsewhere on the estate to create a mature landscape. Other tree species that Brown used in this and other areas of the gardens include: Cedar
, Yew
, Beech, Sycamore, Larch
& Scots Pine
. The buildings in this area are:
The designer of this the largest of the garden buildings is unknown, both Earl Temple and Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford have been suggested as the architect. Built from stone, between 1747–49, the building is located where the two legs of the valley meet. It is raised on a podium
with a flight of steps up to the main entrance, the cella
and pronaos is surrounded by a peristyle
of 28 fluted Roman Ionic
columns, ten on the flanks and six at each end. The main pediment
contains a sculpture by Peter Scheemakers
of Four Quarters of the World bringing their Various Products to Britannia, there are six statues acroterion
of cast lead painted to resemble stone on both the east and west pediments. In the frieze
of the entablature
are the words CONCORDIAE ET VICTORIAE, the sculpture on the building dates from the 1760s when it was converted into a monument to the British victory in the Seven Years' War
. The ceiling of the peristyle is based on an engraving by Robert Wood
of a ceiling in Palmyra
. Within the pronaos and cella are 16 terracotta medallions commemorating British Victories. The wooden doors are painted a Prussian blue
with gilded highlights on the moldings. Above the door is an inscription by Valerius Maximus
:
The interior end wall of the cella has an aedicule containing a statue of Liberty
. Above is this inscription:
When the School built its Chapel in the late 1920s, 16 of the 28 columns from this Temple were moved to the new building, being replaced with plain brickwork. One of the earliest National Trust restoration works was to create replacement columns with which to restore the Temple.
The Approaches
The forecourt
The western garden
The Elysian fields
The Eastern Garden
The Grecian Valley
. There is a cascade of 25 feet (7.6 m) high leading out of the Eleven Acre Lake by a tunnel under the Warden Hill Walk on the western edge of the garden, into the Copper Bottom lake that was created in the 1830s just to the south-west of the gardens, the lake was originally lined with copper
to waterproof the porous chalk
into which the lake was dug. The copper was replaced by butyl sheeting
when the Trust restored the lake. The rivers and lakes of both the park and gardens have many species of fish including: carp
, perch
, pike
, roach
, rudd
& tench
. The house's kitchen garden
, extensively rebuilt by the 2nd Duke, was located at Dadford
about 2/3 of mile north of the house. Only a few remains of the three walled gardens now exist, but originally they were divided into four and centred around fountain
s. There is evidence of the heating system; cast iron pipes used to heat greenhouse
s, which protected the fruit
and vegetable
s, including then-exotic fruits, like peach
es. About a mile and half north of the house lies Haymanger pond
, this is a haven for wildlife
and attracts grebe
s, snipe
, buzzard
s and grass snakes
, as well as other species
. In what use to be the extreme north-east corner of the park, about 2.5 miles (4 km) from the house over the county border lies Silverstone Circuit
, this corner of the park used to be heavily wooded
, known as Stowe Woods, with a series of avenues cut through the trees, over a mile of one of these avenues (or riding) still survives terminated in the north by the racing circuit and aligned to the south on the Wolfe Obelisk though there is a gap of over half mile between the two. The National Trust have reintroduced Longhorn cattle
to graze the park north of the house.
The school had given the National Trust a protective covenant over the gardens in 1967, the first part they actual acquired was the 28 acres (11.3 ha) of the Oxford Avenue in 1985, purchased from the great-great-grandson of the 3rd Duke. The National Trust has pursued a policy of acquiring more of the original estate, only a fraction of which was owned by the school, in 1989 the school donated 560 acres (226.6 ha) including the gardens. In 1992 some 58 acres (23.5 ha) of Stowe Castle Farm located to the east of the gardens was purchased and in 1994 part of New Inn Farm to the south of the gardens was bought. Then 320 acres (129.5 ha) of Home Farm to the north and most of the 360 acres (145.7 ha) fallow
deer-park to the south-west of the gardens were acquired in 1995, this was restored in 2003 there are now around 500 deer in the park. In 2005 a further 9.5 acres (3.8 ha) of New Inn Farm including the Inn itself were acquired. The Trust now owns 750 acres (303.5 ha) of the original park. In the mid 1990s the National Trust replanted the double avenue of trees that surrounded the ha-ha to the south and south-west including the two bastions that project into the park on which sit the temples of Friendship at the south-east corner and Venus at the south-west corner, connecting with the Oxford Avenue by the Boycott Pavilions, the Oxford Avenue then continues to the north-east following the ha-ha and ends level with the Fane of Pastoral Poetry at the north-east corner of the gardens. The buildings in the Park include:
This is nearly 0.5% of the approximately 6,000 grade I listings in England and Wales. The other historic buildings in the garden and park are listed grade II* or grade II.
The house and gardens have also featured in Documentary film
s:
Stowe, Buckinghamshire
Stowe is a civil parish and former village about northwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the home of Stowe School
Stowe School
Stowe School is an independent school in Stowe, Buckinghamshire. It was founded on 11 May 1923 by J. F. Roxburgh, initially with 99 male pupils. It is a member of the Rugby Group and Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. The school is also a member of the G20 Schools Group...
, an independent school
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
. The gardens (known as Stowe Landscape Gardens), a significant example of the English Landscape Garden
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
in 1989 and are open to the public. The house is open to the public during the school holiday
School holiday
School holidays are the periods during which schools are closed for study. The dates and periods of school holidays vary considerably throughout the world, and there is usually some variation even within the same jurisdiction.- Christmas holiday :In countries with a predominantly Judeo-Christian...
s, and there is usually a daily guided tour during term time
Academic term
An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...
. The parkland surrounding the gardens is open 365 days a year and access is free.
History
The Temple family fortune was based on sheep farmingSheep husbandry
Sheep husbandry is a subcategory of animal husbandry specifically dealing with the raising and breeding of domestic sheep. Sheep farming is primarily based on raising lambs for meat, or raising sheep for wool. Sheep may also be raised for milk or to sell to other farmers.-Shelter and...
, they were first recorded as such at Witney
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. Later from 1546 they had been renting a sheep farm in Burton Dassett
Burton Dassett
Burton Dassett is a parish and shrunken medieval village in Warwickshire. Much of the area is now the Burton Dassett Hills country park. It was enclosed for sheep farming by Sir Edward Belknap at the end of the 15th century....
in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. The Stowe estate was lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d from 1571 by Peter Temple, his son John Temple bought the manor & estate of Stowe in 1589 and it became the home of the Temple family. In the late 17th century, the house was completely rebuilt by Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet
Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet
Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654 and from 1660 to 1697....
c.1683 on the present site. This house is now the core of the mansion known today. The old medieval stronghold was located near Stowe parish church that is about 100 yards to the south-east of the current house. Having been redesigned subsequently over the years, the whole front is now 916 feet (279.2 m) in length and can be seen as you approach from the direction of Buckingham. A long, straight driveway ran from Buckingham all the way to the front of the house, passing through a 60-foot (18 m) Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
arch on the brow of the hill on the way. The driveway approach to the house is still in use today, although it no longer runs through the arch.
British and Foreign aristocrats & royalty frequently stayed at the house throughout the 18th & 19th centuries. In 1725 Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle
Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, PC was a British statesman and member of the peerage of England.Charles Howard was the eldest son of Edward Howard and inherited his title on the death of his father in 1692. He married in 1683 Lady Anne de Vere Capell, daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of...
and his wife stayed for two weeks. The 1730s & 1740s saw visits by Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk
Henrietta Howard, Countess of Suffolk
Henrietta Howard was a mistress of King George II of Great Britain.She was the daughter of Sir Henry Hobart, 4th Baronet, a Norfolk landowner who was killed in a duel when Henrietta was aged eight...
, William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, PC was an English politician, a Whig, created the first Earl of Bath in 1742 by King George II; he is sometimes stated to have been Prime Minister, for the shortest term ever , though most modern sources reckon that he cannot be considered to have held the...
; Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales
Frederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
along with other friends of Lord Cobham (see the Temple of Friendship) who were frequent guests. In 1750 John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol
John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol was an English politician.John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridge...
attended a reception at the house. In 1754 Stanisław August Poniatowski visited the gardens. The 1760s saw two visits by Prince Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold III, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau
Leopold III Frederick Franz, Duke of Anhalt-Dessau , known as "Prince Franz" or "Father Franz", was a German prince of the House of Ascania...
as part of his tours of English gardens in preparation for the creation of the Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm
The Dessau-Wörlitz Garden Realm, also known as the English Grounds of Wörlitz, is one of the first and largest English parks in Germany and continental Europe...
. 1768 saw the visit of Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII of Denmark
Christian VII was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig and Holstein from 1766 until his death. He was the son of Danish King Frederick V and his first consort Louisa, daughter of King George II of Great Britain....
. In July 1770 there was a House party
House party
A house party in the English-speaking world is typically a type of party where medium to large groups of people gather at the residence of the party's host. In modern usage, a house party is typically associated with teenage or young adult crowds, loud music, dancing, and the consumption of alcohol...
lasting several days whose guests included Princess Amelia, Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford
Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors,...
, Lady Mary Coke
Lady Mary Coke
Lady Mary Coke was an English letter writer and noblewoman.-Marriage and separation:...
& William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough PC PC was an Irish and English peer and member of the House of Lords, styled Hon. William Ponsonby from 1723 to 1739 and Viscount Duncannon from 1739 to 1758...
. The Prince Regent the future George IV came in 1805 & 1808. Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
came in January 1808 for several days, the party included Charles
Charles X of France
Charles X was known for most of his life as the Comte d'Artois before he reigned as King of France and of Navarre from 16 September 1824 until 2 August 1830. A younger brother to Kings Louis XVI and Louis XVIII, he supported the latter in exile and eventually succeeded him...
, Louis's brother and successor as King of France, Louis Philippe
Louis-Philippe of France
Louis Philippe I was King of the French from 1830 to 1848 in what was known as the July Monarchy. His father was a duke who supported the French Revolution but was nevertheless guillotined. Louis Philippe fled France as a young man and spent 21 years in exile, including considerable time in the...
then the Duke of Orléans who would be France's last ever king & Louis Henri, Prince of Condé. 1810 saw the visit of Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden
Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden also Gustav Adolph was King of Sweden from 1792 until his abdication in 1809. He was the son of Gustav III of Sweden and his queen consort Sophia Magdalena, eldest daughter of Frederick V of Denmark and his first wife Louise of Great Britain. He was the last Swedish...
. The Tsar Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
visited in 1810 & in 1814 Grand Duke Michael
Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia
Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia was the tenth child and fourth son of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg.-Marriage and issue:In St...
of Russia. 1816 saw a visit by Prince Hermann von Pückler-Muskau. Then in 1818 Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I of Russia
Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...
while still grand duke visited, the same year saw the first of many visits by William IV
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
then Duke of Clarence after his death his widow Queen Adelaide
Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen
Princess Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and of Hanover as spouse of William IV of the United Kingdom. Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia, is named after her.-Early life:Adelaide was born on 13 August 1792 at Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany...
stayed in 1840, that year also saw visits by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
The Prince Adolphus, 1st Duke of Cambridge , was the tenth child and seventh son of George III and Queen Charlotte. He held the title of Duke of Cambridge from 1801 until his death. He also served as Viceroy of Hanover on behalf of his brothers George IV and William IV...
& his son Prince George
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge was a member of the British Royal Family, a male-line grandson of King George III. The Duke was an army officer and served as commander-in-chief of the British Army from 1856 to 1895...
. In 1843 there were several visits by German royalty, Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Ernest Augustus I was King of Hanover from 20 June 1837 until his death. He was the fifth son and eighth child of George III, who reigned in both the United Kingdom and Hanover...
and his wife Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , Duchess of Cumberland and later Queen of Hanover , was the consort of Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, the fifth son and eighth child of George III and Queen Charlotte.She was born in the Altes Palais of Hanover as the fifth...
stayed at the house, John of Saxony & Wilhelm I, German Emperor then a prince. Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
& Prince Albert stayed at the house for several days in 1845. Due to financial problems the family let the estate to Prince Philippe, Count of Paris from 1889 to 1894, he died that year in the house, his body was laid in state
Lying in state
Lying in state is a term used to describe the tradition in which a coffin is placed on view to allow the public at large to pay their respects to the deceased. It traditionally takes place in the principal government building of a country or city...
in the Marble Saloon, during which The prince of Wales
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
paid his respects.
Famous non-royal visitors included: Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
a frequent visitor from 1724 onwards, in 1726 Pope visited in the company of Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
& John Gay
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
; another writer and friend to Lord Cobham who visited in the 1720s was William Congreve
William Congreve
William Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
; in 1730 James Thomson wrote the poem Seasons after visiting the gardens; in 1732 Gilbert West
Gilbert West
Gilbert West was a minor English poet, translator and Christian apologist in the early and middle eighteenth century. Samuel Johnson included him in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets.-Biography:...
a nephew of Lord Cobham's, wrote his poem Stowe after visiting the gardens; 1750 saw the first of eight visits by Sanderson Miller
Sanderson Miller
Sanderson Miller was a pioneer of Gothic revival architecture, and a landscape designer who often added follies or other Picturesque garden buildings and features to the grounds of an estate....
; the 1750s also saw visits by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
; in 1770 Thomas Whately
Thomas Whately
Thomas Whately , an English politician and writer, was a Member of Parliament , who served as Commissioner on the Board of Trade, as Secretary to the Treasury under Lord Grenville, and as Under- secretary of State under Lord North . As an M.P...
wrote an extensive description of the gardens; François-Joseph Bélanger
François-Joseph Bélanger
François-Joseph Bélanger was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassic style.Born in Paris, he studied at the Académie Royale d'Architecture where he worked under Julien-David Le Roy and Pierre Contant d'Ivry, but did not win the coveted Prix de Rome that would have sent him to...
visited in 1777-8 and drew the gardens. In April 1786 John Adams
John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
(the future second President of the United States on tour with Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
—who would serve as his vice president before becoming President himself) visited the Stow and other notable house in the area, after visiting them he wrote in his diary "Stowe, Hagley
Hagley Hall
Hagley Hall is an 18th century house in Hagley, Worcestershire. It was the creation of George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton , secretary to Frederick, Prince of Wales, poet and man of letters and briefly Chancellor of the Exchequer...
, and Blenheim
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
, are superb; Woburn
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
, Caversham
Caversham Park
Caversham Park is a Victorian stately home with parkland in the suburb of Caversham, on the outskirts of Reading, England. Historically it was in Oxfordshire, but since 1911 it has been in Berkshire.-Early History:...
, and the Leasowes
The Leasowes
The Leasowes is a 57 hectare estate in Halesowen, historically in the county of Shropshire, England, comprising house and gardens....
are beautiful. Wotton
Wotton
Wotton may refer to:Places*Wotton, Devon*Wotton, Gloucester*Wotton, Surrey**Wotton House, Surrey, a Grade II listed building. Originally a country house and the seat of the Evelyn family, it is now a training and conference centre....
is both great and elegant, though neglected". However his diary he was also damming about the means used to finance the large estates, and he did not think that the embellishments to the landscape that the great country houses provided would suit the more rugged American countryside. William Crotch
William Crotch
William Crotch was an English composer, organist and artist.Born in Norwich to a master carpenter he showed early musical talent . The three and a half year old Master William Crotch was taken to London by his ambitious mother, where he not only played on the organ of the Chapel Royal in St....
visited in 1805, as did Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
in the party that included the Prince Regent.
The Temple-Grenville family
The propensity to marry heiressesBeneficiary
A beneficiary in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example: The beneficiary of a life insurance policy, is the person who receives the payment of the amount of insurance after the death of the insured...
is shown by the family name being changed to Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville by the late 18th-century. The following family members were the owners of the estate and creators of the house & gardens as they now exist:
- Peter Temple ?-1578 leaseLeaseA lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d the estate in 1571.
- John Temple 1542-1603 first inherits the lease from his father Peter then purchased the estate in 1589.
- Sir Thomas TempleSir Thomas Temple, 1st Baronet, of StoweSir Thomas Temple, 1st Baronet , was an English landowner and Member of Parliament.-Early life:Temple was born at Burton Dassett in Warwickshire, the eldest son of John Temple and Susan . As a child he moved with his father to Stowe House in Buckinghamshire...
1567 - c. 1637, 1st BaronetBaronetA baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, he inherited from his father John.
- Sir Peter TempleSir Peter Temple, 2nd BaronetSir Peter Temple, 2nd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653. He was a Parliamentarian in the English Civil War....
1592–1653 2nd Baronet, he was given the estate by his father the 1st Baronet in 1630.
- Sir Richard TempleSir Richard Temple, 3rd BaronetSir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654 and from 1660 to 1697....
1634-1697 3rd Baronet, he inheritedInheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
the estate from his father the 2nd Baronet.
- Richard Temple, 1st Viscount CobhamRichard Temple, 1st Viscount CobhamField Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham PC was a British soldier and Whig politician. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.-Early life:Temple was the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd...
1675-1749 4th Baronet later BaronBaronBaron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman"...
Cobham and finally ViscountViscountA viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Cobham, he inherited from his father the 3rd Baronet.
- Richard Grenville-TempleRichard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl TempleRichard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple KG, PC was a British politician. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law William Pitt who he served with in government during Britain's participation in the Seven Years War between 1756 and 1761...
1711-1779 2nd EarlEarlAn earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke...
Temple, he inherited from his uncle Viscount Cobham.
- George Nugent-Temple-GrenvilleGeorge Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of BuckinghamGeorge Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, KG, PC was a British statesman. He was the second son of George Grenville and a brother of the 1st Baron Grenville.-Career:...
1753-1813 1st MarquessMarquessA marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...
of Buckingham, he inherited from his uncle 2nd Earl Temple.
- Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 1776-1839 2nd Marquess of Buckingham later 1st DukeDukeA duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...
of Buckingham & Chandos, he inherited from his father the 1st Marquess of Buckingham.
- Richard Plantagenet Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 1797-1861 2nd Duke of Buckingham & Chandos, he inherited from his father the 1st Duke.
- Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-GrenvilleRichard Temple-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and ChandosRichard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos GCSI, PC , styled Earl Temple until 1839 and Marquess of Chandos from 1839 to 1861, was a British soldier, politician and administrator of the 19th century...
1823-1889 3rd Duke of Buckingham & Chandos, he inherited from his father the 2nd Duke.
- Lady Mary Morgan-Grenville 1852-1944 11th BaronessBaronessBaroness is the female equivalent of the nobility title Baron.Baroness or The Baroness may also refer to:* Baroness , a metal band from Savannah, Georgia* Baroness , a fictional villain in the G.I...
KinlossLord KinlossLord Kinloss is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1602 for Edward Bruce, later Master of the Rolls, with remainder to his heirs and assigns whatsoever. In 1604 he was also made Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with remainder to his heirs male, and in 1608 Lord Bruce of Kinloss, with...
, she inherited from her father the 3rd Duke.
- Richard G. Morgan-Grenville 1887-1914 was given the estate in 1908 by his mother Lady Kinloss, he was killed fighting in the First World War.
- The ReverendThe ReverendThe Reverend is a style most often used as a prefix to the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. The Reverend is correctly called a style but is often and in some dictionaries called a...
Luis C.F.T. Morgan-Grenville 1889-1944 inherited the estate on the death of his brother Richard, and sold it in 1921.
Gallery of the main creators of Stowe
John Temple was the first member of the family to serve as High SheriffHigh Sheriff
A high sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement officer in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States.In England and Wales, the office is unpaid and partly ceremonial, appointed by the Crown through a warrant from the Privy Council. In Cornwall, the High Sheriff is appointed by the Duke of...
of Buckinghamshire and also Justice of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
.
Sir Thomas Temple first purchased a Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
hood in 1603 from James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
then purchased from the same monarch the baronetcy in 1611. He was the first member of the family to serve as a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in 1588-9.
Sir Peter Temple was a supporter of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
and served as a colonel in the parliamentary
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
army during the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
.
When the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
broke out in 1702 the 4th Baronet was appointed a colonel by William III
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
, he was later promoted to Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
. First created Baron Cobham in 1714 by King George I
George I of Great Britain
George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
, then in 1718 Viscount Cobham by the same king. In 1715 he married Anne Halsey an heiress of a rich London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
brewer
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
, she bought a dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
of £20,000. He was a member of the Kit-Cat Club
Kit-Cat Club
The Kit-Cat Club was an early 18th century English club in London with strong political and literary associations, committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives, meeting at the Trumpet tavern in London, and at Water Oakley in the Berkshire countryside.The first meetings were held at a tavern in...
where he probably first met fellow members John Vanbrugh and Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
whose writings on garden design influenced the development of the gardens at Stowe. Cobham was the centre of the Whig party grouping of Cobhamites
Cobhamites
The Cobhamite faction were an 18th century British political faction built around Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham and his supporters. Perhaps most notably the group contained the future Prime Ministers William Pitt and George Grenville...
. His sister Hester
Hester Grenville, 1st Countess Temple
Hester Temple, 1st Countess Temple, 2nd Viscountess Cobham was an English noblewoman.She was born the daughter of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Bt. , of Stowe, Buckinghamshire...
was created Countess of Temple in her own right in 1749 by King George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
, from which her son, heir to the estate inherited his title as 2nd Earl Temple.
Richard Grenville the future 2nd Earl Temple, married Anna Chamber in 1737, an heiress with a £50,000 fortune. He was leader of the Whig group known as the Grenvillite
Grenvillite
The Grenvillites or Grenvilles were a name given to several British political factions of the 18th and early-19th centuries, all associated with the important Grenville family of Buckinghamshire.-Overview:...
s. King George II made Earl Temple a Knight of the Garter
Order of the Garter
The Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
in 1760. Earl Temple was an active supporter of John Wilkes
John Wilkes
John Wilkes was an English radical, journalist and politician.He was first elected Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of voters—rather than the House of Commons—to determine their representatives...
. When the Earl's cousin George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe
George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe
George Bubb Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe PC was an English politician and nobleman.Christened simply George Bubb, he acquired the surname Dodington around the time his uncle George Dodington died in 1720 and left him his estate...
died in 1762 he left his Vanbrugh designed house Eastbury Park and estates in Dorset to Earl Temple. Who attempted to sell the house, but as no buyer could be found, so demolished most of the building using the marble from the house in the Marble Saloon at Stowe. The Eastbury estate was finally sold in 1806.
The 2nd Earl Temple's sister Hester
Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham
Hester Pitt, Countess of Chatham , 1st Baroness Chatham in her own right, was the wife of William Pitt , 1st Earl of Chatham, who was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768...
married William Pitt the Elder
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham
William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
who became Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
of Great Britain. Their son William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
also served as Prime Minister. George Grenville
George Grenville
George Grenville was a British Whig statesman who rose to the position of Prime Minister of Great Britain. Grenville was born into an influential political family and first entered Parliament in 1741 as an MP for Buckingham...
the brother of the 2nd Earl Temple was also to serve as Prime Minister. William Grenville youngest brother of the 1st Marquess of Buckingham also served as Prime Minister, it was during his premiership that the Atlantic slave trade was abolished
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
. The final family member to be Prime Minister was William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
, he married Catherine Glynne
Catherine Gladstone
Catherine Glynne Gladstone was the wife of British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone for 59 years, until his death in 1898.-Family:...
the granddaughter of Catherine sister of the 1st Marquess of Buckingham. Other notable politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
s in the family included Thomas Grenville
Thomas Grenville
Thomas Grenville PC was a British politician and bibliophile.-Background and education:Grenville was the second son of Prime Minister George Grenville and Elizabeth, daughter of Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet...
the brother of the 1st Marquess, Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent PC was an Irish politician and poet.-Background:The son of Michael Nugent and Mary, daughter of Robert Barnewall, 9th Baron Trimlestown, he was born at Carlanstown, County Westmeath...
the father-in-law
Father-in-law
A parent-in-law is a person who has a legal affinity with another by being the parent of the other's spouse. Many cultures and legal systems impose duties and responsibilities on persons connected by this relationship...
of the 1st Marquess, Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
brother of William Pitt the elder, George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent
George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent
George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent GCMG , Irish politician.George Nugent-Grenville was:* Liberal Member of Parliament for Buckingham, 1810–1812; for Aylesbury, 1812–1832....
brother of the 1st Duke and the 1st Marquess's nephew Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke
Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke
Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke , known as Richard Neville until 1797 and as the Hon. Richard Griffin between 1797 and 1825, was a British Whig politician and literary figure.-Background and education:...
.
George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, undertook the grand tour in 1774, in 1775 he married a Catholic heiress Mary Nugent, who had an income of £14,000 a year. He was created 1st Marquess of Buckingham in 1784 by King George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
. On the death in 1788 of the Marquess's father-in-law Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent
Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent PC was an Irish politician and poet.-Background:The son of Michael Nugent and Mary, daughter of Robert Barnewall, 9th Baron Trimlestown, he was born at Carlanstown, County Westmeath...
he inherited the Earl's Irish (8900 acres (3,601.7 ha)) and Cornish estates.
The 2nd Marquess of Buckingham married in 1796 Anna Eliza Brydges the daughter and heiress of James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos
James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos
James Brydges, 3rd Duke of Chandos PC , styled Marquess of Carnarvon from 1744 to 1771, was a British peer and politician.-Background:...
who had died in 1789. He thus acquires this wife's estates in Hampshire and Middlesex. Up until 1822 the family had been staunch Whigs, but in order to obtain the long sought Dukedom the family became Tories. The Dukedom was bestowed in 1822 by King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
on Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville 2nd Marquess who became the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos
Duke of Buckingham
The titles Marquess and Duke of Buckingham, referring to Buckingham, have been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been Earls of Buckingham.-1444 creation:...
. The deal was to support the then Prime Minister Lord Liverpool
Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool
Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool KG PC was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since the Union with Ireland in 1801. He was 42 years old when he became premier in 1812 which made him younger than all of his successors to date...
's administration. The family spent a great deal of money to control several rotten boroughs, including Old Sarum
Old Sarum
Old Sarum is the site of the earliest settlement of Salisbury, in England. The site contains evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC. Old Sarum is mentioned in some of the earliest records in the country...
, whose M.P.s
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
switch their support to the prime minister, although the 1832 Reform Act
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...
would end this practise. The 1st Duke was a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
in the Royal Buckinghamshire Militia (King's Own)
Royal Buckinghamshire Militia (King's Own)
The Royal Buckinghamshire Militia was a militia regiment in the United Kingdom from 1758 to 1881, when it was amalgamated into The Oxfordshire Light Infantry....
, he led his battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
in 1814 to France under the command of The Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
.
The 2nd Duke through his mother Anna was descended from the House of Plantagenet
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
and was an active member of the Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry
The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry was formed in 1794, when King George III was on the throne and William Pitt the Younger was the Prime Minister, of Great Britain. Across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation which had recently guillotined its King and which possessed a...
, his support of which added to the debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
s of £1,464,959 (well over £100,000,000 in 2003 terms) he had accrued by 1845, he was called the Greatest Debtor in the world. The Duke left to live abroad in August 1847 to escape his creditors. That year saw the sale of the family's London home Buckingham House in Pall Mall
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
. In March 1848 the family estates in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
& Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
some 36000 acres (14,568.7 ha) of land, were sold. Followed by the most valuable of the painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s, furniture and other art works at Stowe, over 21,000 bottles of wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
and over 500 of spirits
Distilled beverage
A distilled beverage, liquor, or spirit is an alcoholic beverage containing ethanol that is produced by distilling ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables...
in the wine cellar
Wine cellar
A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae or plastic containers. In an active wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control system. In contrast, passive wine cellars are not...
s below the Marble Saloon, were all sold from 15 August to 7 October 1848 by Christies. The auction was held in The State Dining Room, but only raised £75,400. At the end of the sales the estate had contract to the core 10000 acres (4,046.9 ha) in Buckinghamshire. The garden staff were cut from 40 to 4.
Richard Plantagenet Campbell Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos-Grenville, 3rd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (10 September 1823–26 March 1889), usually shortened to Richard Temple-Grenville, was a British statesman of the 19th century, and a close friend and subordinate of Benjamin Disraeli. He was styled Marquess of Chandos until the death of his father in 1861.
With the death of the third Duke of Buckingham and Chandos in 1889, there remained no heirs-male to the dukedom, so it became extinct. After which ownership of the estate was separated from the title Earls Temple of Stowe
Earl Temple of Stowe
Earl Temple of Stowe, in the County of Buckingham, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1822 for the 2nd Marquess of Buckingham. He was created Marquess of Chandos and Duke of Buckingham and Chandos at the same time...
which passed by special remainder in the letters patent creating it through the female line to a nephew of the 3rd Duke William Temple-Gore-Langton
William Temple-Gore-Langton, 4th Earl Temple of Stowe
William Stephen Temple-Gore-Langton, 4th Earl Temple of Stowe , known as William Gore-Langton until 1892, was a British Conservative politician....
the son of Lady Anna Eliza Mary Grenville sister of the 3rd Duke. The fall of the family engendered Lord Rosebery's
Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, KG, PC was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister. Between the death of his father, in 1851, and the death of his grandfather, the 4th Earl, in 1868, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Dalmeny.Rosebery was a Liberal Imperialist who...
comment "The glories of the House built up with so much care and persistence, vanished like a snow wreath".
After the death of her father the 3rd Duke, Lady Mary Morgan-Grenville tried to sell house and estate for £200,000, but nobody wished to buy it. It was then rented until 1894 after which the house remained unoccupied until 1901 when Lady Mary returned as a widow, her husband Major
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Luis Morgan-Grenville having died in 1896 and she lived in the house until 1908 when she passed it onto her unmarried son as he came of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
at 21.
The last inheritor of the estate Rev. Luis C.F.T. Morgan-Grenville, due to prodigious debts, sold the house, gardens and part of the park in 1921 to a Mr Harry Shaw for £50,000 who intended to present the house to the nation. But being unable to pay for an endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
to maintain the building it was sold again in 1922 to the governor
Board of governors
Board of governors is a term sometimes applied to the board of directors of a public entity or non-profit organization.Many public institutions, such as public universities, are government-owned corporations. The British Broadcasting Corporation was managed by a board of governors, though this role...
s of what became Stowe School, this opened on the 11th May 1923. The rest of the estate was sold as separate lots, Clough Williams-Ellis
Clough Williams-Ellis
Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC was an English-born Welsh architect known chiefly as creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales.-Origins, education and early career:...
purchased the Grand Avenue to prevent its felling to create building plots, later he gifted it to the school. The gardens remained in the ownership of the School until 1989 when an anonymous donor provided funds for an endowment and the National Trust assumed ownership. In 1997 the ownership of the house passed to the Stowe House Preservation Trust, the major aim of which is to restore the building.
The architectural history
The House is the result of four main periods of development these are:- 1677-1683 under Sir Richard Temple, this involved the building of the central block. The architect was William Cleare who worked for Sir Christopher WrenChristopher WrenSir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
as his chief joinerJoinerA joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...
. The house was of brick four floors high including the basement and attics and thirteen bays in length. - 1720s-1733 under Viscount CobhamRichard Temple, 1st Viscount CobhamField Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham PC was a British soldier and Whig politician. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.-Early life:Temple was the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd...
, including the addition of the Ionic North tetrastyle Portico by Vanbrugh and the rebuilding of the north, east and west fronts. After Vanbrugh's death in 1726 work continued under William Kent it was probably he who designed the now demolished two-tier south portico that consisted of four TuscanTuscan orderAmong canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columns with four Ionic or Composite columns above. - 1740s-1760 under Viscount Cobham, the expansion of the both the western and eastern state apartments.
- 1770-1779 under Earl TempleRichard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl TempleRichard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple KG, PC was a British politician. He is best known for his association with his brother-in-law William Pitt who he served with in government during Britain's participation in the Seven Years War between 1756 and 1761...
having first obtained a design from Jacques-François BlondelJacques-François BlondelJacques-François Blondel was a French architect. He was the grandson of François Blondel , whose course of architecture had appeared in four volumes in 1683 -Biography:...
for the new south front of the house, which did not meet with the Earl's approval, in 1771 Robert AdamRobert AdamRobert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...
produced a new design for the south front, this design was adapted and made more uniform by Thomas PittThomas Pitt, 1st Baron CamelfordThomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
assisted by Giovanni Battista BorraGiovanni Battista BorraGiovanni Battista Borra was an Italian architect, engineer and architectural draughtsman.-Life:...
and was finished in 1779. The interiors of the new state apartmentsState roomA state room in a large European mansion is usually one of a suite of very grand rooms which were designed to impress. The term was most widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries. They were the most lavishly decorated in the house and contained the finest works of art...
were not completed until 1788 much of the interior work being by an Italian, Vincenzo Valdrè (1742–1814). At the same time the final remodelling of the North Front was taking place, this involved the erection in 1770-1772 of the two twin quadrant colonnadeColonnadeIn classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
s of Ionic columns that flank the facade, these may be to Robert Adam's design. The northern ends of the colonnades are linked to screen-walls containing gateways by William Kent which were moved from the forecourt to this position and heightened in 1775 by Vincenzo Valdrè, the east gateway leads to the stable court the west to the kitchen court. At right angles to these walls stand the arches designed by Giacomo LeoniGiacomo LeoniGiacomo Leoni , also known as James Leoni, was an Italian architect, born in Venice. He was a devotee of the work of Florentine Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti, who had also been an inspiration for Andrea Palladio. Leoni thus served as a prominent exponent of Palladianism in English...
c.1740, these were formal entrances to the gardens, they now lead to various buildings put up by the school.
The exterior of the House has not been significantly changed since 1779 although, in the first decade of the 19th century, the Egyptian Hall was added beneath the North Portico as a secondary entrance.
Stowe Library
In 1793 the Marquess of Buckingham converted The East Gallery into The Large Library and in the first decade of the 19th century on the ground floor created the Gothic Library to the designs of Sir John SoaneJohn Soane
Sir John Soane, RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. His architectural works are distinguished by their clean lines, massing of simple form, decisive detailing, careful proportions and skilful use of light sources...
a rare example of Soane using the Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style.
The 1st Duke inherited his Uncle, Lord Grenville's library, described in 1824 as
- in history, philosophy, political economy, mathematics, diplomatic state papers, both printed and manuscript, is the most perfect collection in this country.
Following the bankruptcy of the 2nd Duke, much of the valuable collection was sold. The library has provided Provenance
Provenance
Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from", refers to the chronology of the ownership or location of an historical object. The term was originally mostly used for works of art, but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including science and computing...
to many valued manuscripts including the Stowe 2 Psalter, Stowe 54, the Stowe Breviary
Stowe Breviary
The Stowe Breviary is an early-fourteenth-century illuminated manuscript Breviary from England, providing the divine office according to the Sarum ordinal and calendar ....
and the "Stowe manuscripts
Stowe manuscripts
The Stowe manuscripts are a collection of about 2000 Anglo-Saxon and later medieval manuscripts, nearly all now in the British Library. The manuscripts date from 1154 to the end of the 14th century....
".
The south facade
The showpiece of the House is the south facadeFacade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
overlooking the gardens. This is one of the finest examples of neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. The main front stretches over 460 feet (140.2 m). Divided into five major sections, these are: the central block around 130 feet (39.6 m) in width, the lower linking sections 75 feet (22.9 m) wide that contain on the west the State Dining Room and on the east The Large Library, then at the ends the two pavilions the same height as the central block about 90 feet (27.4 m) in width. The central block and the end pavilions are articulated at piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
level with unfluted Corinthian pilasters over 35 feet (10.7 m) tall which becomes a hexastyle portico supporting a pediment in the middle of the facade, there is a minor order of 48 Ionic columns over 20 feet (6.1 m) high that runs the length of the facade. The portico fronts a loggia
Loggia
Loggia is the name given to an architectural feature, originally of Minoan design. They are often a gallery or corridor at ground level, sometimes higher, on the facade of a building and open to the air on one side, where it is supported by columns or pierced openings in the wall...
that contains the doorway to the Marble Saloon, this is flanked by large niches that used to contain ancient Roman statues, between the columns of the portico used to be the marble sculpture of Vertumnus
Vertumnus
In Roman mythology, Vertumnus — also Vortumnus or Vertimnus — is the god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees...
and Pomona
Pomona
Pomona was a goddess of fruitful abundance in ancient Roman religion and myth. Her name comes from the Latin word pomum, "fruit," specifically orchard fruit. She was said to be a wood nymph and a part of the Numia, guardian spirits who watch over people, places, or homes...
by Laurent Delvaux
Laurent Delvaux
Laurent Delvaux was a prolific Belgian sculptor.-Life:Delvaux was born in Ghent. In Brussels he was a student of Denis Plumier from Antwerp, he followed Plumier to London in 1719 and collaborated with him on the funerary monument of John Sheffield, duke of Buckingham...
now in the V&A. Above the niches is a large frieze on a Bacchic theme, this is based on an engraving in James Stuart
James Stuart (1713-1788)
James "Athenian" Stuart was an English archaeologist, architect and artist best known for his central role in pioneering Neoclassicism.-Early life:...
's and Nicholas Revett
Nicholas Revett
Nicholas Revett was a Suffolk gentleman and amateur architect and artist.He is best known for his famous work with James Stuart documenting the ruins of ancient Athens. Its illustrations compose 5 folio volumes and include 368 etched and engraved plates, plans and maps drawn at scale...
's Antiquities of Athens of the frieze on the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates
Choragic Monument of Lysicrates
The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis of Athens was erected by the choregos Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus to commemorate the award of first prize in 335/334 BCE, to one of the performances he had sponsored...
. There is a flight of thirty three steps the full width of the portico which descends to the South Lawn. The staircase has solid parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
s either side that end in sculptures of lions, 1927 replacements for the original bronze
Bronze
Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
lions, standing and resting a paw on a ball (sold in 1921 and now in Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park, Blackpool
Stanley Park is a municipal park in the town of Blackpool on the Fylde coast in the county of Lancashire, England. It is the largest park in the town, bounded by a roughly circular perimeter of 2.2 miles and covering an area of...
), that were of a slightly larger scale. Either side of the portico are two tripartite windows separated and flanked by Ionic columns, these are enclosed with an arch that contains a carved Portland stone
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
tondo
Tondo (art)
A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait...
in the tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
with carvings of The four seasons
Season
A season is a division of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight.Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution...
, and is in turn flanked by twin Corinthian pilasters the same size as the columns of the portico. The facade is surmounted by a balustraded parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
, in the centre of the parapet of the east pavilion is a sculpture of two reclining figures of Ceres and Flora
Flora (mythology)
In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
the corresponding figures on the west pavilion are of Liberty
Liberty (goddess)
Goddesses named for and representing the concept Liberty have existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire and some national symbols such as the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan"....
and Religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
. The end pavilions each have three tripartite windows matching those on the central block, the tondos of which are each carved with a sacrificial scene. The ground floor is lower than the floor above, about 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and visually acts as a base to the facade, it is of banded rustication
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
with simple arched windows beneath each window on the upper floor. In 1790 a balustrade
Baluster
A baluster is a moulded shaft, square or of lathe-turned form, one of various forms of spindle in woodwork, made of stone or wood and sometimes of metal, standing on a unifying footing, and supporting the coping of a parapet or the handrail of a staircase. Multiplied in this way, they form a...
was added parallel to the façade that ran from the bottom of the steps the full length of the house and then returned at both ends, there are a series of 30 pedestal
Pedestal
Pedestal is a term generally applied to the support of a statue or a vase....
s along the balustrade, that until their sale in 1921 were topped by bronze urn
Urn
An urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
s. This was probably added to keep visitors from the lower windows of the house, and formal flower beds were laid out in the area.
The major interiors
During the sales of 1921 & 1922 all the remaining furnishing and art works not sold in 1848 were auctionAuction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
ed, as were several fittings including chimneypieces
Fireplace mantel
Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling...
. Some of the family portraits and other items associated with the house have been bought back and are now on display in the House. Several owners of Stowe undertook the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
, Earl Temple spent 1729-33 in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
& Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, the 1st Marquess in 1774 visited Italy, the 2nd Duke before he inherited his title in 1817, and the 1st Duke in 1827-29 toured the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
aboard his yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
the Anna Eliza named after his wife. Many of the art works
Work of art
A work of art, artwork, art piece, or art object is an aesthetic item or artistic creation.The term "a work of art" can apply to:*an example of fine art, such as a painting or sculpture*a fine work of architecture or landscape design...
that adorned the house were acquired both during these trips and through the 1st Duke inheriting his father-in-law's art collection. The 1st Duke before he inherited Stowe, also bought paintings at the sale of the Orleans Collection
Orleans Collection
The Orleans Collection was a very important collection of over 500 paintings formed by the French prince of the blood Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, mostly acquired between about 1700 and his death in 1723...
in 1798 and continued to buy paintings for another twenty years as well as books, engravings and the Stowe Service of Worcester Porcelain, as well as archaeological specimens. The main rooms are mainly located on the 1st floor (referred to in the U.S.A. as the 2nd floor) Piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
, a few are on the ground floor (referred to in the U.S.A. as the 1st floor).
- The North Hall located behind the north portico this is the main entrance hallEntrance HallThe Entrance Hall is the primary and formal entrance to the White House, the official residence of the President of the United States. The room is rectilinear in shape and measures approximately 31 by 44 feet...
of the house and the least changed of the rooms dating from the 1730s. The ceiling has a deep coveMolding (decorative)Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
, and was painted by William KentWilliam KentWilliam Kent , born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, was an eminent English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century.He was baptised as William Cant.-Education:...
in grisailleGrisailleGrisaille is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome or near-monochrome, usually in shades of grey. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many grisailles in fact include a slightly wider colour range, like the Andrea del Sarto fresco...
on gold background imitating mosaicMosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
. There are six classical deities depicted in the cove, MercuryMercury (mythology)Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, JupiterJupiter (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
, VenusVenus (mythology)Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
, SaturnSaturn (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...
, ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
and DianaDiana (mythology)In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
. There are also nine of the signs of the zodiac. The flat centre of the ceiling is enclosed in a plasterLime plasterLime plaster is type of plaster composed of hydrated lime, sand and water. Lime plaster is similar to Lime mortar, the main difference is the based on use rather than composition. Traditional lime plaster contains also horse hair to reinforce plaster....
beam, which in turn encloses a square with a circle within which encloses a painting of MarsMars (mythology)Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
. The south wall has in its centre a large set of doors which lead into The Marble Saloon, either side of these doors are portraits by Sir William BeecheyWilliam BeecheySir Henry William Beechey , English portrait-painter, was born at Burford, the son of William Beechey and Hannah Read ....
of on left Richard, first Duke of Buckingham & Chandos on the right Anna Eliza, First Duchess of Buckingham & Chandos she is depicted with her son later the 2nd Duke. The west wall has above the fireplace Thomas BanksThomas BanksThomas Banks , English sculptor, son of a surveyor who was land steward to the Duke of Beaufort, was born in London. He was taught drawing by his father, and in 1750 was apprenticed to a woodcarver. In his spare time he worked at sculpture, spending his evenings in the studio of the Flemish émigré...
's white marble relief of Caractacus before the Emperor Claudius in its centre which is flanked by two doors. The east wall has above a small staircase leading to the ground floor, Christophe VeyrierChristophe VeyrierChristophe Veyrier was a sculptor, the nephew and follower of Pierre Puget.Veyrier was born in Trets. He arrived in Genoa in 1663 and stayed for a number of years, before moving to Rome to live from 1668-70. In 1674 he married the daughter of the sister of Puget's wife.He worked in Aix-en-Provence...
's white marble relief of The family of DariusDarius III of PersiaDarius III , also known by his given name of Codomannus, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC....
before Alexander the Great in its centre flanked by two doors. Works of art sold in 1848 that use to be in this room include Anthony van DyckAnthony van DyckSir Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England. He is most famous for his portraits of Charles I of England and his family and court, painted with a relaxed elegance that was to be the dominant influence on English portrait-painting for the next...
's portrait of the Marquess of Vienville, and among other sculpture two marble vases bought as Ancient Roman but actually the work of Giovanni Battista PiranesiGiovanni Battista PiranesiGiovanni Battista Piranesi was an Italian artist famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric "prisons" .-His Life:...
, one of these is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of ArtLos Angeles County Museum of ArtThe Los Angeles County Museum of Art is an art museum in Los Angeles, California. It is located on Wilshire Boulevard along Museum Row in the Miracle Mile vicinity of Los Angeles, adjacent to the George C. Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits....
. - The Marble SaloonDrawing roomA drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
is the grandest interior in the House, located immediately behind the south portico. Based on the PantheonPantheon, RomeThe Pantheon ,Rarely Pantheum. This appears in Pliny's Natural History in describing this edifice: Agrippae Pantheum decoravit Diogenes Atheniensis; in columnis templi eius Caryatides probantur inter pauca operum, sicut in fastigio posita signa, sed propter altitudinem loci minus celebrata.from ,...
. It is ellipticalEllipseIn geometry, an ellipse is a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane in a way that produces a closed curve. Circles are special cases of ellipses, obtained when the cutting plane is orthogonal to the cone's axis...
in plan, 63 feet (19.2 m) by 45 feet (13.7 m), the domed ceilingDomeA dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
is over 56 feet (17.1 m) high. The room was probably designed by Vincenzo Valdrè, the basic structure was built between 1775-77 but decoration was probably only complete by 1788 at a cost of £12,000. The lower half of the walls are surrounded by 16 unfluted Roman Doric columns made from red scagliolaScagliolaScagliola , is a technique for producing stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones...
with white veins that mimics Sicilian JasperJasperJasper, a form of chalcedony, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for...
the work of Domenico Bartoli and with white marbleMarbleMarble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
capitals and bases, supporting a richly detailed Doric entablatureEntablatureAn entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
of white plaster with satyrs on the metopesMetope (architecture)In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...
. Hanging from the soffitSoffitSoffit , in architecture, describes the underside of any construction element...
of the entablature between each pair of columns are replica brassBrassBrass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
lanterns with glass domes, these are copies of the original light fittings. These columns flank four doors on the cardinal directionCardinal directionThe four cardinal directions or cardinal points are the directions of north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials: N, E, S, W. East and west are at right angles to north and south, with east being in the direction of rotation and west being directly opposite. Intermediate...
s, the rest flank plain niches that once contained eight Ancient Roman statues these were sold in 1848, new plaster casts of eight statues from the Berlin State MuseumsBerlin State MuseumsThe Berlin State Museums, in German Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, are a group of museums in Berlin, Germany overseen by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and funded by the German federal government in collaboration with Germany's federal states...
were added to the niches flanking each door and were unveiled in September 2009. Added at the same time to the niches between each pair of statues were fibreglass copies of the original gilded Athéniennes (or TorchiereTorchiereA torchiere , or torch lamp, is a lamp with a tall stand of wood or metal. Originally, torchieres were candelabra, usually with two or three lights...
s), the originals were made of timber and painted and gilded to resemble metal. Above the niches and doorways are white plaster rectangular reliefs depicting arms and trophiesTrophy (architectural)A trophy is an architectural ornament representing a group of weapons, banners and armour. Similar decorative vertical arrangements of hunting accessories, musical instruments or other objects are also commonly referred to as trophies....
. Above the entablature is the very elaborate friezeFriezethumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
, this consists of over 280 human and 14 animals in plaster all alto-relievo, the sculptor was probably Charles Peart. The subject of the frieze is the suovetauriliaSuovetauriliaThe suovetaurilia or suovitaurilia was one of the most sacred and traditional rites of Roman religion: the sacrifice of a pig , a sheep and a bull to the deity Mars to bless and purify land ....
. The dome is cofferCofferA coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed of white plaster, there are 160 coffers nearly all of unique shape. The coffers contain highly decorated rosettesRosette (design)A rosette is a round, stylized flower design, used extensively in sculptural objects from antiquity. Appearing in Mesopotamia and used to decorate the funeral stele in Ancient Greece...
, and the ribs in between are also very elaborately decorated. There is a central skylightWindowA window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
also elliptical. The floor is made of 72 four foot square slabs of white Carrara marble resting on a brick vault, in the centre of the floor is a metal grill part of the heating system. This is the first room to be fully restored to its pre-1848 condition.
- The State Music Room to the east of The Marble Saloon is about 30 by 40 feet (12.2 m), probably designed by Valdrè and finished in the early 1780s. With an apseApseIn architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
in the centre of the north wall, there are doors at each end of the side walls, though only the northern pair are real, the other two are false doorFalse doorA false door is a common architectural element in the tombs of Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed that the false door was a threshold between the world of the living and the dead, and through which a deity or the spirit of the deceased could enter and exit.The false door was usually the...
s. The north has within the apse two sets of doors flanking a niche that is surrounded by a decorative frame. There are two un-flutedFluting (architecture)Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
scagliola Corinthian columns on the corners of the apse and also within it flanking the niche. The walls are painted with panels in the form of GrotesqueGrotesqueThe word grotesque comes from the same Latin root as "Grotto", meaning a small cave or hollow. The original meaning was restricted to an extravagant style of Ancient Roman decorative art rediscovered and then copied in Rome at the end of the 15th century...
s and Arabesques. The chimneypiece in the centre of the east wall of white marble inset with panels of rosso antico marble and with carved decoration of musical instruments in white marble and ormoluOrmoluOrmolu is an 18th-century English term for applying finely ground, high-karat gold in a mercury amalgam to an object of bronze. The mercury is driven off in a kiln...
, this chimneypiece was sold in 1922 but bought back in 1991, a new mirrorMirrorA mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
above the chimneypiece was made to replace the original one. The plaster ceiling has gilt molded decoration and seven inset paintings. The central painting is circular and is of The Dance of the Hours after Guido ReniGuido ReniGuido Reni was an Italian painter of high-Baroque style.-Biography:Born in Bologna into a family of musicians, Guido Reni was the son of Daniele Reni and Ginevra de’ Pozzi. As a child of nine, he was apprenticed under the Bolognese studio of Denis Calvaert. Soon after, he was joined in that...
and is flanked to the north and south by two rectangular paintings of the four seasons. Between these large paintings are four smaller ones of landscape scenes. All the paintings are believed to be by Valdrè. The four crystal chandeliersChandelierA chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
are modern replacements for the original ones. The ancient Roman sculpture the Marine Venus that use to stand in the niche, was purchased by Queen Victoria at the 1848 sale and is now at Osborne HouseOsborne HouseOsborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
. This has been replaced in the niche by a bust of William Pitt the elder by Joseph WiltonJoseph WiltonJoseph Wilton was an English sculptor and one of the founding members of the Royal Academy in 1768 .Born to a wealthy family in London, Wilton trained in Flanders, Paris, Rome and Florence...
, which is on loan to the house. There is mention of a chamber organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
in the room in 1779. Also sold in 1848 were two Italian neo-classical side tables with Verd antiqueVerd antiqueVerd antique , or verde antique, is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite, which takes a high polish...
tops the frames being carved with plaques of Leda and the SwanLeda and the SwanLeda and the Swan is a motif from Greek mythology in which Zeus came to Leda in the form of a swan. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of her husband Tyndareus, the King of Sparta. In...
and Juno and her peacockJuno (mythology)Juno is an ancient Roman goddess, the protector and special counselor of the state. She is a daughter of Saturn and sister of the chief god Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. Juno also looked after the women of Rome. Her Greek equivalent is Hera...
, these are both now in the Wallace Collection. - The Large Library, one of the three librariesPrivate libraryA private library is a library under the care of private ownership, as compared to that of a public institution, and is usually only established for the use of a small number of people, or even a single person. As with public libraries, some people use stamps, stickers, or embossing to show...
in the house, is 75 feet (22.9 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m), it is located to the east of The State Music Room. This room was created in 1793 from the former East Gallery. The plaster ceiling dates from then, with its elaborate cornice supporting a deep coffered coveMolding (decorative)Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
in each corner of which are clusters of grapes, the flat centre of the ceiling has elaborate decoration, including in the border of the central panel mermenMermanMermen are mythical male equivalents of mermaids – legendary creatures who have the form of a human from the waist up and are fish-like from the waist down.-Mythology:...
holding and feeding a griffinGriffinThe griffin, griffon, or gryphon is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle...
. The main entrance is in the centre of the long north wall. There are chimneypieces in the centre of each end wall, these are of white marble with flanking caryatidCaryatidA caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
s, the jambs are of black marble, one dates from 1792 which is a copy of the other probably dating from the 1760s. Above each chimneypiece is a mirror. The bookcaseBookcaseA bookcase, or bookshelf, is a piece of furniture, almost always with horizontal shelves, used to store books. A bookcase consists of a unit including two or more shelves which may not all be used to contain books or other printed materials. Shelves may be fixed or adjustable to different positions...
s are of mahoganyMahoganyThe name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
there are over five hundred shelves on the lower walls and they have their original doors with brass wire grilles. The walls are completely covered by the shelving, even the walls between the seven windows of the south wall. The upper two hundred and forty shelves are accessed via a gallery running around the east, north and west walls. The over 20,000 volumes that were on these shelves, largely collected by the 1st Marquess of Buckingham were sold in January 1849, at Sotheby's, the sale lasted 24 days. There are a series of three marble bustsBust (sculpture)A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
in the windows that were sold from the house in 1921 but have been repurchased, these are: 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos by Raimondo Trentanova, Frederick III, German EmperorFrederick III, German EmperorFrederick III was German Emperor and King of Prussia for 99 days in 1888, the Year of the Three Emperors. Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl known informally as Fritz, was the only son of Emperor William I and was raised in his family's tradition of military service...
and Victoria, Princess RoyalVictoria, Princess RoyalThe Princess Victoria, Princess Royal was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert. She was created Princess Royal of the United Kingdom in 1841. She became German Empress and Queen of Prussia by marriage to German Emperor Frederick III...
both carved by Tito Angelini. Also there are small busts above the bookcases on the window wall, HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
, Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, HoraceHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
, DemosthenesDemosthenesDemosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
and another of Homer. These were sold in 1921 but donated to the House and returned to their original positions. - The State Drawing RoomDrawing roomA drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
also called The Temple Room. Is to the west of The Marble Saloon is about 30 by 40 feet (12.2 m), with an apseApseIn architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
in the centre of the north wall, there are doors at each end of the side walls, though only the northern pair are real, the other two are false doorFalse doorA false door is a common architectural element in the tombs of Ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed that the false door was a threshold between the world of the living and the dead, and through which a deity or the spirit of the deceased could enter and exit.The false door was usually the...
s. The plaster ceiling is probably a design of Valdrè. Decorated in neo-classical style with a symmetrical arrangement of nereids, tazzaTazzaA tazza is a shallow saucer-like dish either mounted on a stem and foot or on a foot alone. The word has been generally adopted by archaeologists and connoisseurs for this type of vessel, used either for drinking, serving small items of food, or just for display.The Farnese Tazza is a 2nd century...
s, paterae and other motifs, originally the details were giltGildingThe term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
but this was replaced by silver in 1965 restoration, the ceiling dates from 1776 and was executed by James Lovell. The original marble fireplace dated 1777 was sold in 1922 and is now in Spain at the headquartersHeadquartersHeadquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of Grupo SantanderGrupo SantanderThe Santander Group is a banking group centered on Banco Santander, S.A., the largest bank in the Eurozone and one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market capitalisation. According to Forbes Magazine Global 2000, it is the 13th largest public company in the world...
, it contains an antique alabaster bas-relief from Egypt of a Sacrifice to Bacchus. The north wall has an engaged fluted Corinthian columns of wood flanking the apse and a further two within it, there are quarter columns in the corners of the room. The walls used to be hung with red DamaskDamaskDamask is a reversible figured fabric of silk, wool, linen, cotton, or synthetic fibers, with a pattern formed by weaving. Damasks are woven with one warp yarn and one weft yarn, usually with the pattern in warp-faced satin weave and the ground in weft-faced or sateen weave...
and the finest paintings in the collection hung on the walls. There being in 1838 fifty two paintings hanging on the walls, including: Helena Fourment by RubensRubensRubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens , the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens Rubens is often used to refer to Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), the Flemish artist.Rubens may also refer to:- People :Family name* Paul Rubens (composer) Rubens is...
she was his second wife, now in the Barber Institute; The Exposition of Moses by Nicholas Poussin now in the Ashmolean MuseumAshmolean MuseumThe Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
; The Finding of Moses by Salvator RosaSalvator RosaSalvator Rosa was an Italian Baroque painter, poet and printmaker, active in Naples, Rome and Florence. As a painter, he is best known as an "unorthodox and extravagant" and a "perpetual rebel" proto-Romantic.-Early life:...
now in The Detroit Institute of ArtsDetroit Institute of ArtsThe Detroit Institute of Arts is a renowned art museum in the city of Detroit. In 2003, the DIA ranked as the second largest municipally owned museum in the United States, with an art collection valued at more than one billion dollars...
; Assumption of the Virgin by MurilloBartolomé Estéban MurilloBartolomé Esteban Murillo was a Spanish Baroque painter. Although he is best known for his religious works, Murillo also produced a considerable number of paintings of contemporary women and children...
now in the Wallace Collection; Philip Baptising the Eunuch by Albert Cuyp now at Anglesey AbbeyAnglesey AbbeyAnglesey Abbey is a country house, formerly a priory, in the village of Lode, 5 ½ miles northeast of Cambridge, England. The house and its grounds are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public as part of the Anglesey Abbey, Garden & Lode Mill property, although some parts remain...
; View of a Village by David Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the YoungerDavid Teniers the Younger was a Flemish artist born in Antwerp, the son of David Teniers the Elder. His son David Teniers III and his grandson David Teniers IV were also painters...
now in the National Gallery and The Persian Sybil by Domenichino now in the Wallace Collection; several of these works were acquired at the sale of the Orleans CollectionOrleans CollectionThe Orleans Collection was a very important collection of over 500 paintings formed by the French prince of the blood Philippe d'Orléans, Duke of Orléans, mostly acquired between about 1700 and his death in 1723...
. Also the finest pieces of Sèvres porcelainManufacture nationale de SèvresThe manufacture nationale de Sèvres is a Frit porcelain porcelain tendre factory at Sèvres, France. Formerly a royal, then an imperial factory, the facility is now run by the Ministry of Culture.-Brief history:...
of the over 200 in the collection used to be displayed in this room, but these were sold in 1848. The furnishings included several pieces from the Doge's Palace which are now in other British collections. Iincluding an hexagonal side table, the top inlaid with various marbles in the Wallace CollectionWallace CollectionThe Wallace Collection is a museum in London, with a world-famous range of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to the 19th centuries with large holdings of French 18th-century paintings, furniture, arms & armour, porcelain and Old Master paintings arranged into 25 galleries.It was established in...
, two gilt gessoGessoGesso is a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these...
side tables one is in the V&A the other at Sudeley CastleSudeley CastleSudeley Castle is a castle located near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England. It dates from the 10th century, but the inhabited portion is chiefly Elizabethan. The castle has a notable garden, which is designed and maintained to a very high standard. The chapel, St. Mary's Sudeley, is the burial...
. - The State Dining RoomDining roomA dining room is a room for consuming food. In modern times it is usually adjacent to the kitchen for convenience in serving, although in medieval times it was often on an entirely different floor level...
is 75 feet (22.9 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m). Located to the west of The State Drawing Room, created in the 1740s the probable architect being either Henry FlitcroftHenry FlitcroftHenry Flitcroft was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by trade. Working as a carpenter at Burlington House, he fell from a scaffold and broke his leg...
or 'Capability' Brown. This was The State Gallery until 1817 when it assumed its current name. The ceiling has an elaborate plaster entablature supporting a deep cove, this has painted decoration dated 1747 by Francesco Sleter, including HebeHebe (mythology)In Greek mythology, Hēbē is the goddess of youth . She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles ; her successor was the young Trojan prince Ganymede...
feeding JupiterJupiter (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Jupiter or Jove is the king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He is the equivalent of Zeus in the Greek pantheon....
's Eagle east, Cupid playing with two Graces north, Cupid asleep with two Graces south and DianaDiana (mythology)In Roman mythology, Diana was the goddess of the hunt and moon and birthing, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and having the power to talk to and control animals. She was equated with the Greek goddess Artemis, though she had an independent origin in Italy...
and her Hounds west, the spaces between these paintings are decorated with animals including swanSwanSwans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
s and their cygnets, pigeons and rabbitRabbitRabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
s. There are three large octagonal paintings on the central flat of the ceiling. These are probably early 19th century replacements for the original by Robert Jones. They are VenusVenus (mythology)Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
disarming CupidCupidIn Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, affection and erotic love. He is the son of the goddess Venus and the god Mars. His Greek counterpart is Eros...
east, Venus on her Chariot, crowned by Cupid and attended by the Three GracesCharitesIn Greek mythology, a Charis is one of several Charites , goddesses of charm, beauty, nature, human creativity and fertility. They ordinarily numbered three, from youngest to oldest: Aglaea , Euphrosyne , and Thalia . In Roman mythology they were known as the Gratiae, the "Graces"...
centre and Venus at her Toilet, attended by the Graces west. There are also eight smaller octagonal panels depicting pairs of vases and classical reliefs. The areas between these paintings are decorated with painted acanthusAcanthus (ornament)The acanthus is one of the most common plant forms to make foliage ornament and decoration.-Architecture:In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to...
and all the paintings are bordered by white and gilt plaster beams decorated in guillocheGuillochéGuilloché is a decorative engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically engraved into an underlying material with fine detail...
. The two chimneypieces on the north wall date from the 1920s the original pair were sold in 1922 and are now at Benham ParkBenham ParkBenham Park is a mansion in the English county of Berkshire, within the civil parish of Speen. It is located west of Newbury, not far off the A34, near the village of Marsh Benham....
, these were of white and yellow SienaSienaSiena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
marbles, with elaborately carved wooded overmantlesOverdoorAn "overdoor" is a painting, bas-relief or decorative panel, generally in a horizontal format, that is set, typically within ornamental mouldings, over a door, or was originally intended for this purpose.The overdoor is usually architectural in form, but may take the form of a cartouche in Rococo...
that contained paintings now in America, these are Goddess conducting Learning east and MercuryMercury (mythology)Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
conducting Tragedy and Comedy to Parnassus. There are four paintings above the two doors in the west and east walls of male and female centaurs with BacchicDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
emblems and lyreLyreThe lyre is a stringed musical instrument known for its use in Greek classical antiquity and later. The word comes from the Greek "λύρα" and the earliest reference to the word is the Mycenaean Greek ru-ra-ta-e, meaning "lyrists", written in Linear B syllabic script...
s, probably painted by Robert Jones. The walls used to be hung with five Brussels tapestriesTapestryTapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...
commissioned by Viscount Cobham from O. Leyneir, they depict the triumph of classical deities: Ceres, Bacchus, NeptuneNeptune (mythology)Neptune was the god of water and the sea in Roman mythology and religion. He is analogous with, but not identical to, the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto, each of them presiding over one of the three realms of the universe,...
, MarsMars (mythology)Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...
and Diana, sold in 1921 they are now in Switzerland. The dining table when fully extended was 65 feet (19.8 m) long. The walls are hung with various portraits of people associated with the house and family that have been acquired over the years, these are, on the east wall Caroline Harvey wife of the 3rd Duke by Sir Francis GrantFrancis Grant (artist)Sir Francis Grant, RA , was a Scottish portrait painter, who painted Queen Victoria and many distinguished British aristocratic and political figures of the day...
; above the eastern fireplace Queen Caroline of AnsbachCaroline of AnsbachCaroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
from the studio of Sir Godfrey KnellerGodfrey KnellerSir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
; in the centre of the north wall Lady Christian Lyttelton the sister of Viscount Cobham a copy of a portrait by Kneller; over the western fireplace King George IIGeorge II of Great BritainGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
from the studio of Sir Godfrey Kneller; and on the west wall A Lady in Eastern Costume on a Terrace with a Peacock possibly Lady Hester StanhopeLady Hester StanhopeLady Hester Lucy Stanhope , the eldest child of Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope by his first wife Lady Hester Pitt, is remembered by history as an intrepid traveller in an age when women were discouraged from being adventurous.-Early life and travels:Lady Hester was born and grew up at her...
by James NorthcoteFrancis Grant (artist)Sir Francis Grant, RA , was a Scottish portrait painter, who painted Queen Victoria and many distinguished British aristocratic and political figures of the day...
, she was the great-granddaughter of Sir Richard Temple 3rd Baronet. - The Small Tapestry Dining Room now known as The Servery is located to the west of The State Dining Room, originally dating from the late 1750s but having undergone drastic reconstruction little of the original decoration survives, only the gilt corniceCorniceCornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and plaster frieze, and the frames that enclosed the tapestries are still in place, the elaborate marble chimneypiece and its carved-wooden overmantle that contained an oval portrait of Lord Cobham dressed in armour by Sir Godfrey Kneller, were sold in 1922. The four tapestries sold in 1921 were from Brussels and depicted the Arts of War and were designed by Lambert de Hondt. The largest tapestry depicted the Battle of WijnendaleBattle of WijnendaleThe Battle of Wijnendale was a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 28 September 1708 near Wijnendale, Flanders, between an allied force protecting a convoy for the Siege of Lille and forces of Bourbon France and Spain...
and included a depiction of Lord Cobham who was one of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
's generals at the battle. The ceiling was destroyed in 1935 when the western pavilion of the south front was reconstructed due to structural problems. - The Garter Room which served as the State Bedroom is to the west of The Small Tapestry Dining Room. Designed by Borra in 1755 and completed over the next five years. None of the original decoration survived the reconstruction of the west pavilion in 1935. There is a reconstruction of the original plaster ceiling with its GarterOrder of the GarterThe Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
insignia in the centre. The most important painting in the room, that use to hang on the east wall, was Joshua ReynoldsJoshua ReynoldsSir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
's Marquess of GranbyJohn Manners, Marquess of GranbyGeneral John Manners, Marquess of Granby PC, , British soldier, was the eldest son of the 3rd Duke of Rutland. As he did not outlive his father, he was known by his father's subsidiary title, Marquess of Granby...
, now in the collection of the National Army MuseumNational Army MuseumThe National Army Museum is the British Army's central museum. It is located in the Chelsea district of central London, England adjacent to the Royal Hospital Chelsea, the home of the "Chelsea Pensioners". The National Army Museum is open to the public every day of the year from 10.00am to 5.30pm,...
, Earl Temple's nephew Richard Grenville was the Marquess's Aide-de-campAide-de-campAn aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
during the Seven Years' WarSeven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. The magnificent state bed, it was set up in the room in 1759-60 and was nearly 15 feet (4.6 m) in height, survives in the Lady Lever Art GalleryLady Lever Art GalleryThe Lady Lever Art Gallery was founded in 1922 by Sunlight Soap magnate, William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, and dedicated to the memory of his wife....
, this use to be in the recess on the west wall. The bed was moved to the Rembrandt Room for Queen Victoria's visit. The two elaborately carved and gilt robe chests one of gophir the other of sandal wood that use to stand on the north wall flanking the white marble fireplace are now in the Wallace Collection. The room takes up the space behind the two western tripartite windows of the South Front, the corners of the room prior to 1935 contained separate closets. The south-western closet was called the Japan Closet and was decorated in a Japanese styleJapanese architecture' originated in prehistoric times with simple pit-houses and stores that were adapted to a hunter-gatherer population. Influence from Han Dynasty China via Korea saw the introduction of more complex grain stores and ceremonial burial chambers....
, this use to contain the Chandos JewelsJewelleryJewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
finally sold for nearly £10,000 by Lady Kinloss in 1929, also the room use to have a staircase to the dressing room on the floor above. The south-eastern closet was called the Shakespeare Closet because it contained the Chandos portraitChandos portraitThe "Chandos" portrait is one of the most famous of the portraits that may depict William Shakespeare . Believed to have been painted from life between 1600 and 1610, it may have served as the basis for the engraved portrait of Shakespeare used in the First Folio in 1623. It is named after James...
of William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
now in the National Portrait Gallery, London, also from this room and now in the National Gallery, London, are two paintings, a portrait of Martin LutherMartin LutherMartin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
which use to be ascribed to Hans Holbein the YoungerHans Holbein the YoungerHans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
and Francesco RaiboliniFrancesco RaiboliniFrancesco Raibolini , called Francia, was an Italian painter, goldsmith, and medallist from Bologna, who was also director of the city mint....
's portrait of Bartolomeo Bianchini. The north-east closet was a water-closet. In the niches in the walls that flank the recess between the two southern closets use to be displayed a collection 120 pieces of MaiolicaMaiolicaMaiolica is Italian tin-glazed pottery dating from the Renaissance. It is decorated in bright colours on a white background, frequently depicting historical and legendary scenes.-Name:...
, one of the finest pieces a dish painted with St. Thomas touching Christ's wound from DerutaDerutaDeruta is a hill town and comune in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region of central Italy. Long known as a center of refined maiolica manufacture, Deruta remains known for its ceramics, which are exported worldwide.-History:...
is now in the Courtauld Institute of ArtCourtauld Institute of ArtThe Courtauld Institute of Art is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art. The Courtauld is one of the premier centres for the teaching of art history in the world; it was the only History of Art department in the UK to be awarded a top...
.
- The Blue Room to the east of the Large Library, used as a small drawing room. Until the 1849 sale this was known as the Print Room and the walls were lined with bookshelves similar to those in the Large Library, these housed the extensive printOld master printAn old master print is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition . A date of about 1830 is usually taken as marking the end of the period whose prints are covered by this term. The main techniques concerned are woodcut, engraving and etching, although there are...
collection. Over 55,000 prints were sold in 1834 at Philips auction house, but raised only £6,700. The remaining English prints were sold in March 1849 at Sotheby's for £3,800. After this sale the bookshelves were removed and replaced with panels of blue silkSilkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
with matching curtains, (these were sold off in 1922), and the room assumed its present name. The plaster ceiling dated between 1774-1775 is decorated with emblems of Bacchus, including four thyrsiThyrsusIn Greek mythology, a thyrsus or thyrsos was a staff of giant fennel covered with ivy vines and leaves, sometimes wound with taeniae and always topped with a pine cone. These staffs were carried by Dionysus and his followers. Euripides wrote that honey dripped from the thyrsos staves that the...
surrounding an ornate jug with a handle in the form of a SatyrSatyrIn Greek mythology, satyrs are a troop of male companions of Pan and Dionysus — "satyresses" were a late invention of poets — that roamed the woods and mountains. In myths they are often associated with pipe-playing....
. Encircled by a wreath of vine-leaves and grapes. The four corners have relieves of Venus, FloraFlora (mythology)In Roman mythology, Flora was a goddess of flowers and the season of spring. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses, her association with the spring gave her particular importance at the coming of springtime...
, VulcanVulcan (mythology)Vulcan , aka Mulciber, is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes in ancient Roman religion and Roman Neopaganism. Vulcan is usually depicted with a thunderbolt. He is known as Sethlans in Etruscan mythology...
and Venus, the crystal chandelierChandelierA chandelier is a branched decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture with two or more arms bearing lights. Chandeliers are often ornate, containing dozens of lamps and complex arrays of glass or crystal prisms to illuminate a room with refracted light...
is modern replacement for the original one as is the fireplace. Displayed in the room are several pieces of the 'Stowe Service' commissioned from the Worcester Porcelain FactoryRoyal WorcesterRoyal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
in 1813 by the 1st Duke while he was still a Marquess. The service was sold in two batches, 206 pieces in 1848, and the remaining 164 pieces in 1921. But as pieces have appeared on the market they have been repurchased. Also on display in the room are several family portraits that have also been bought as they have come on the market, they are The Marquess of Buckingham painted in his GarterOrder of the GarterThe Most Noble Order of the Garter, founded in 1348, is the highest order of chivalry, or knighthood, existing in England. The order is dedicated to the image and arms of St...
robes by John JacksonJohn Jackson (painter)John Jackson was an English painter.Jackson was born in Lastingham, Yorkshire, and started his career as an apprentice tailor to his father, who opposed the artistic ambitions of his son...
; William Pitt the Elder by William HoareWilliam HoareWilliam Hoare of Bath RA was an English painter and printmaker, co-founder of the Royal Academy noted for his pastels....
; William Pitt the Younger by John HoppnerJohn HoppnerJohn Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...
; a copy of Anne Chambers, Countess Temple by Allan Ramsey; Sir Peter Temple, Second Baronet by Cornelius JohnsonCornelis van Ceulen JanssensCornelis Janssens van Ceulen was an English painter of portraits of Dutch or Flemish parentage...
; Sir Richard Temple, Third Baronet attributed to Henri GascarHenri GascarHenri Gascar was a French-born portrait painter who achieved artistic success in England during the reign of Charles II. He painted many leading ladies at court, including several of the King's mistresses, before returning to Paris...
; a photographic copy of Earl Temple by Allan Ramsey the original is in the National Gallery of VictoriaNational Gallery of VictoriaThe National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites...
; Alice Anne, Duchess of Buckingham by Sir Arthur Stockdale CopeArthur Stockdale CopeArthur Stockdale Cope was an English portrait painter.-Life and work:Cope's father was Charles West Cope , a successful history and genre painter. He trained in art at Carey’s Art School before moving to the Royal Academy schools...
; Viscount Cobham by Jean-Baptiste Van LooJean-Baptiste van LooJean-Baptiste van Loo was a French subject and portrait painter.-Biography:He was born in Aix-en-Provence, and was instructed in art by his father Louis-Abraham van Loo, son of Jacob van Loo...
; The Third Duke of Buckingham and Chandos an engraving of the portrait by C.A. Tompkins & a possible portrait of Earl Temple by Robert Edge PineRobert Edge PineRobert Edge Pine was an English portrait and historical painter, born in London. He was the son of John Pine, the engraver, and probably his pupil....
. Also in the room are two of the original Athéniennes from the Marble Saloon. - The Breakfast Parlour Now called the Chandos Sigma Dormitory. Immediately to the east of the Blue Room dating from 1773-75. This is a relatively plain room, the ceiling is covedCoved ceilingA coved ceiling is a ceiling that has had the visual appearance of the point where the ceiling meets the walls improved by the addition of coving.It can also refer to an arched-dome ceiling, like in a mosque....
, the centre of the ceiling is decorated with a circular painting of Venus blindfolding Cupid surrounded by plaster decoration that includes incense burners. The marble fireplace dated 1774 with its relief of Venus and Cupid was sold in 1922. There use to be 39 paintings in this room, including Virgin and Child with SS John the Baptist and Catherine, dated 1504 by Andrea PrevitaliAndrea PrevitaliAndrea Previtali was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Bergamo. He was a pupil of the painter Giovanni Bellini...
this is now in the National Gallery, London and Woman at her Toilette once attributed to Leonardo da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
and bought as such in 1780, now School of FontainebleauSchool of FontainebleauThe Ecole de Fontainebleau refers to two periods of artistic production in France during the late Renaissance centered around the royal Château de Fontainebleau, that were crucial in forming the French version of Northern Mannerism....
, this is in the Worcester Art MuseumWorcester Art MuseumThe Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 35,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day, representing cultures from all over the world. The WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and is the second largest art museum in New England...
, Massachusetts.
- The Rembrandt Room Now called the Chandos Delta Dormitory. Immediately to the east of the Breakfast Parlour, originally dated 1748, the room was extended and redecorated in 1775. A relatively plain room, the painting that use to be in the centre of the ceiling, Venus at her toilet by Vincenzo Valdrè was sold in 1922 along with the marble chimneypiece with its central relief of Hebe and Jupiter's EagleHebe (mythology)In Greek mythology, Hēbē is the goddess of youth . She is the daughter of Zeus and Hera. Hebe was the cupbearer for the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus, serving their nectar and ambrosia, until she was married to Heracles ; her successor was the young Trojan prince Ganymede...
. The room once contained eleven paintings attributed to Rembrandt although only two are considered so now, the rest being School or Rembrandt. All the paintings were sold in 1848. They included; Samson Threatening his Father-in-law, in 1989 this was sold by the estate of the late P Chrysler Jr; Bellona now in the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
; Self-Portrait as a Young man now in the Isabella Stewart Gardner MuseumIsabella Stewart Gardner MuseumThe Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum or Fenway Court, as the museum was known during Isabella Stewart Gardner's lifetime, is a museum in the Fenway-Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located within walking distance of the Museum of Fine Arts and near the Back Bay Fens...
; Eleazor Swalmius now in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp; A Young Negro Archer and (genuine Rembrandt) The Centurion Cornelius sold for £2,300 (the highest price any of the paintings sold in 1848 fetched) both now in the Wallace Collection. Also originally in this room and now in the Wallace Collection are the almost 10 feet (3 m) high astronomical regulator clockAstronomical clockAn astronomical clock is a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.-Definition:...
by Michael Stollewerck formerly at the Palace of VersaillesPalace of VersaillesThe Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
and a BoulleAndré Charles BoulleAndré-Charles Boulle was the French cabinetmaker who is generally considered to be the preeminent artist in the field of marquetry, even "the most remarkable of all French cabinetmakers." His fame in marquetry led to his name being given to the fashion he perfected of inlaying brass and...
armoire. Also from this room a GermanGermansThe Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
marquetryMarquetryMarquetry is the art and craft of applying pieces of veneer to a structure to form decorative patterns, designs or pictures. The technique may be applied to case furniture or even seat furniture, to decorative small objects with smooth, veneerable surfaces or to freestanding pictorial panels...
cabinet, later bought by Mayer Amschel de RothschildMayer Amschel de RothschildMayer Amschel de Rothschild of the English branch of the Rothschild family was the fourth and youngest son of Nathan Mayer Rothschild . He was named Mayer Amschel Rothschild, for his grandfather, the patriarch of the Rothschild family.-Life:Known to his family as "Muffy", he was born in New Court,...
for Mentmore TowersMentmore TowersMentmore Towers is a 19th century English country house in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. The house was designed by Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, in the revival Elizabethan and Jacobean style of the late 16th century called Jacobethan, for the banker and...
. It was in this room that Queen Victoria and her husband slept during their visit, redecorated for the occasion, including the purchase of the largest Persian carpet in the country, 25.5 by 16 feet (4.9 m), this cost £200, but only fetch £55 in the 1848 sale. The 2nd Duke spent £5,300 on redecorating the house and on entertaining the royal couple for a visit that last a few days.
- The ChapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
located immediately behind the Eastern Pavilion, created in 1742-48 and originally rising through two floors. The room was divided into two floors in 1929 when the new school chapel was built, all the timber panelling being reused in the new chapel. Only the plaster ceiling decoration survives, this consists of octagons, crosses and hexagons. The elaborate carved woodHistory of wood carvingThe History of wood carving has from the remotest ages the decoration of wood as a foremost art. The tendency of human nature has always been to ornament every article in use. The North American Indian carves his wooden fish-hook or his pipe stem just as the Polynesian works patterns on his paddle...
panelling of cedarwoodCedar woodCedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...
came from a house in CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
also called Stowe. It had been carved by Michael Chuke a pupil of Grinling GibbonsGrinling GibbonsGrinling Gibbons was an English sculptor and wood carver known for his work in England, including St Paul's Cathedral, Blenheim Palace and Hampton Court Palace. He was born and educated in Holland where his father was a merchant...
. The most elaborate pieces of carving were the gallery on the south side, the octagonal pulpitPulpitPulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
dated 1707 and the elaborate reredosReredosthumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
the reached nearly the full height of the room, the lower half having two Corinthian columns flanking the altarAltarAn altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
above which use to hang a copy of Rubens's painting of 'Holy Lamb'. This in turn was flanked by rich carving of fruit and plants. Above was a very rich carving of the Royal ArmsRoyal coat of arms of the United KingdomThe Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...
. - The Gothic Library is situated on the ground floor beneath the centre part of the Large Library, created in 1805, this was the last major interior to be added to the house. Designed by Sir John Soane. The plaster ceiling pattern is based on a very shallow fan vaultFan vaultthumb|right|250px|Fan vaulting over the nave at Bath Abbey, Bath, England. Made from local Bath stone, this is a [[Victorian restoration]] of the original roof of 1608....
. The plastererPlastererA plasterer is a tradesman who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls...
was one William Rothwell, who charged £495 10 shillings & 7 pence. The centre of the ceiling contains a circular panel 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m) in diameter that contains 726 painted armorial bearings of the various families that the then Marquess was descended. the wooden bookshelves include glazed bronze doors based on the bronze screen around Henry VIIHenry VII of EnglandHenry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
's tomb in Westminster AbbeyWestminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. The fireplace was supplied by a brass-founder Thomas Catherwood in 1807 for £100. This room used to contain amongst other treasures 1085 Saxon & IrishIrish peopleThe Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
manuscripts, the Saxon Manuscripts were inherited from Thomas AstleThomas AstleThomas Astle was an English antiquary and palaeographer.-Life:Astle was born on 22 December 1735 at Yoxall on the borders of Needwood Forest in Staffordshire, the son of Daniel Astle, keeper of the forest...
under the terms of his will in 1803 on payment of £500, the Irish manuscripts were purchased from Charles O'ConorCharles O'Conor (historian)Charles O'Conor Don, The O'Conor Don, Prince of Connacht of Belanagare was an Irish writer and antiquarian who was enormously influential as a protagonist for the preservation of Irish culture and history in the eighteenth century...
in 1804. These are now either in the British LibraryBritish LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
or Royal Irish AcademyRoyal Irish AcademyThe Royal Irish Academy , based in Dublin, is an all-Ireland, independent, academic body that promotes study and excellence in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is one of Ireland's premier learned societies and cultural institutions and currently has around 420 Members, elected in...
including the Stowe MissalStowe MissalThe Stowe Missal, which is strictly speaking a sacramentary rather than a missal, is an Irish illuminated manuscript written mainly in Latin with some Gaelic in about 750. In the mid-11th century it was annotated and some pages rewritten at Lorrha Monastery in County Tipperary, Ireland...
. The manuscripts now in the British Library include The Medieval BestiaryBestiaryA bestiary, or Bestiarum vocabulum is a compendium of beasts. Bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals, birds and even rocks. The natural history and illustration of each beast was usually accompanied by a moral lesson...
, Stowe MS 1067 and the PsalterPsalterA psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other devotional material bound in as well, such as a liturgical calendar and litany of the Saints. Until the later medieval emergence of the book of hours, psalters were the books most widely owned by wealthy lay persons and were...
, Stowe 2 (Psalter). The room was furnished with ebonized mahoganyMahoganyThe name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
tables and chairs inlaid with ivoryIvoryIvory is a term for dentine, which constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals, when used as a material for art or manufacturing. Ivory has been important since ancient times for making a range of items, from ivory carvings to false teeth, fans, dominoes, joint tubes, piano keys and...
, one of the tables is now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert MuseumVictoria and Albert MuseumThe Victoria and Albert Museum , set in the Brompton district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects...
. The door from the library has on the outside a carved stone relief dated to the late 16th century, above it, of The Battle of Bosworth FieldBattle of Bosworth FieldThe Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...
, the Gothic Staircase by the door connects the two libraries.
- The Egyptian Hall created c.1803, it is situated beneath the North Hall to which it is connected by the staircase by the east wall which was inserted at this time, and was created as the winter entrance, linked to the Porte-cocherePorte-cochereA porte-cochère is the architectural term for a porch- or portico-like structure at a main or secondary entrance to a building through which a horse and carriage can pass in order for the occupants to alight under cover, protected from the weather.The porte-cochère was a feature of many late 18th...
created at the same time, beneath the North Portico with ramps connecting to the forecourt to allow carriages to pick up and set down passengers under cover. Decorated in the EgyptianAncient Egyptian architectureThe Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing ancient Egyptian architecture...
style of decoration. The room has inward sloping walls and a vaulted ceiling, the western end of the room has a recess flanked by two Egyptian style Lotus columns that originally contained a heating stoveStoveA stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
in the form of a carved sarcophagusSarcophagusA sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
, removed in 1922. The frieze around the ceiling is decorated with a winged solar disk the symbol of the god RaRaRa is the ancient Egyptian sun god. By the Fifth Dynasty he had become a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the mid-day sun...
and uraeusUraeusThe Uraeus is the stylized, upright form of an Egyptian spitting cobra , used as a symbol of sovereignty, royalty, deity, and divine authority in ancient Egypt.The Uraeus is a symbol for the goddess Wadjet, who was one of the earliest Egyptian deities and who...
between falconFalconA falcon is any species of raptor in the genus Falco. The genus contains 37 species, widely distributed throughout Europe, Asia, and North America....
wings, alternate with AnkhAnkhThe ankh , also known as key of life, the key of the Nile or crux ansata, was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character that read "eternal life", a triliteral sign for the consonants ʻ-n-ḫ...
the symbol of life flanked by sceptreSceptreA sceptre is a symbolic ornamental rod or wand borne in the hand by a ruling monarch as an item of royal or imperial insignia.-Antiquity:...
s symbols of power. There is an illuminated sun globe over the south door. Also sold in 1922 were seven canvas sepiaSepia (color)Sepia is a dark brown-grey color, named after the rich brown pigment derived from the ink sac of the common cuttlefish Sepia.The word sepia is the Latinized form of the Greek σηπία, sēpía, cuttlefish.-Sepia in human culture:...
paintings on the walls which depicted Egyptian figures and hieroglyphicsEgyptian hieroglyphsEgyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
and two sculptures of Sphinxes that use to be at the base of the staircase. The designer of the room is not known for certain, though Sir John Soane implied in a lecture that the 1st Marquess was responsible for the concept. - The east corridor and Grand staircase Dating from the 1730s, connects the North Hall via the south-east door with the Ante-Library, this is a relatively plain room, the stone staircase at the east end of the corridor is cantileverCantileverA cantilever is a beam anchored at only one end. The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and shear stress. Cantilever construction allows for overhanging structures without external bracing. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs.This is in...
ed from the walls and has a wrought ironWrought ironthumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
balustrade, the ceiling above the staircase is painted with Fame and VictoryVictoria (mythology)In ancient Roman religion, Victoria was the personified goddess of victory. She is the Roman equivalent of the Greek goddess Nike, and was associated with Bellona. She was adapted from the Sabine agricultural goddess Vacuna and had a temple on the Palatine Hill...
, by Francesco Sleter, the same artist's wall paintings on the staircase no longer survive. The walls of the corridor are now lined with paintings of former headmasters of the schoolHead teacherA head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
and in the east window above the staircase there is white marble bust a copy of the head of the Apollo BelvedereApollo BelvedereThe Apollo Belvedere or Apollo of the Belvedere—also called the Pythian Apollo— is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity. It was rediscovered in central Italy in the late 15th century, during the Renaissance...
. There used to be forty-five paintings on the walls, including: Godfrey KnellerGodfrey KnellerSir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
's portrait of John, Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of MarlboroughJohn Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
now in the Institute of DirectorsInstitute of DirectorsThe Institute of Directors is a UK-based organisation, established in 1903 and incorporated by royal charter in 1906 to support, represent and set standards for company directors...
; Henry FuseliHenry FuseliHenry Fuseli was a British painter, draughtsman, and writer on art, of Swiss origin.-Biography:...
's paintings of characters from A Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's DreamA Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
, Titania and Bottom now in Tate Britain and his Oberon wakes Titania now in the Kunstmuseum WinterthurKunstmuseum WinterthurKunstmuseum Winterthur is an art museum in Winterthur, Switzerland run up today by the local Kunstverein, founded in CHK...
; and attributed to John Closterman, General Michael Richards and his Brother, General John Richards, at the siege of Belgrade now in the Slovak National GallerySlovak National GalleryThe Slovak National Gallery is a network of galleries in Slovakia. It has its headquarters in Bratislava.The gallery was established by law on 29 July 1949. In Bratislava, it has its displays situated in Esterházy Palace and the Water Barracks which are adjacent to each other...
. Also originally in the corridor but sold in 1848 were eleven Greek vasesPottery of Ancient GreeceAs the result of its relative durability, pottery is a large part of the archaeological record of Ancient Greece, and because there is so much of it it has exerted a disproportionately large influence on our understanding of Greek society...
, three from the Lucien BonaparteLucien BonaparteLucien Bonaparte, Prince Français, 1st Prince of Canino and Musignano , born Luciano Buonaparte, was the third surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia Ramolino....
's excavations at CaninoCaninoCanino is a town and comune of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in the internal part of Maremma Laziale. It is 15 km W of Valentano and 44 km NW of Viterbo....
, also a Roman sarcophagusSarcophagusA sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
dating from TrajanTrajanTrajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
's reign. - The Ante-Library located immediately to the north of the Large Library, created in 1805, this is really a wide corridor, about 50 feet (15.2 m) long, and low in height, with a plain ceiling and walls, the fireplace on the east wall is a replacement for the carved marble one sold in 1922. The main feature of the room are the eight TuscanTuscan orderAmong canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columns of scagliola imitating Verd antiqueVerd antiqueVerd antique , or verde antique, is a serpentinite breccia popular since ancient times as a decorative facing stone. It is a dark, dull green, white-mottled serpentine, mixed with calcite, dolomite, or magnesite, which takes a high polish...
marble, the work of Domenico Bartoli. The room housed in 1838 a series of 52 family portraits, including: The Rt Hon. George Greville prime minister, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, now in the Bass MuseumBass MuseumThe Bass Museum of Art is an art museum located in Miami Beach, Florida in the United States located at 2100 Collins Avenue. The museum specializes in art from around the world from the Renaissance to modern art...
; a posthumous portrait of George, Marquess of Buckingham, by John JacksonJohn Jackson (painter)John Jackson was an English painter.Jackson was born in Lastingham, Yorkshire, and started his career as an apprentice tailor to his father, who opposed the artistic ambitions of his son...
now at Christ Church, OxfordChrist Church, OxfordChrist Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
; Mary Nugent, Marchioness of Buckingham by Sir Joshua Reynolds, last sold in 1989 and present whereabouts unknown; William Wyndham, Lord Grenville by John HoppnerJohn HoppnerJohn Hoppner was an English portrait painter, .-Early life:Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents - his mother was one of the German attendants at the royal palace. King George's fatherly interest and patronage of the young boy gave rise to rumours, quite unfounded,...
now in the North Carolina Museum of ArtNorth Carolina Museum of ArtThe North Carolina Museum of Art is an art museum in Raleigh, North Carolina, featuring paintings and sculpture representing 5,000 years of artistic work from antiquity to the present. The museum features more than 40 galleries as well as more than a dozen works of art in its Museum Park...
. - Other Interiors there are various smaller rooms on the main floor of the house, mainly plain in decoration but use to house many important paintings, including: two paintings of 1648 by Frans HalsFrans HalsFrans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
, Portrait of a man now in the Art Gallery of OntarioArt Gallery of OntarioUnder the direction of its CEO Matthew Teitelbaum, the AGO embarked on a $254 million redevelopment plan by architect Frank Gehry in 2004, called Transformation AGO. The new addition would require demolition of the 1992 Post-Modernist wing by Barton Myers and Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg...
and Portrait of a Woman now in the Museum of Fine Arts, BostonMuseum of Fine Arts, BostonThe Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of the largest museums in the United States, attracting over one million visitors a year. It contains over 450,000 works of art, making it one of the most comprehensive collections in the Americas...
; Orazio GentileschiOrazio GentileschiOrazio Lomi Gentileschi was an Italian Baroque painter, one of more important painters influenced by Caravaggio...
's The Rest on the Flight into Egypt now in the J. Paul Getty MuseumJ. Paul Getty MuseumThe J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
; Claude Joseph Vernet's Rocky Coast in a Storm in the Wallace Collection; Giovanni Battista Lusieri's A View of Naples over nine feet in length this water colourWatercolor paintingWatercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
remained in the house until sold in 1985 to the J. Paul Getty Museum; Joshua Reynold's painting of the Marquess of Buckingham was sold by Lady Kinloss in 1899 and is now in the National Gallery of IrelandNational Gallery of IrelandThe National Gallery of Ireland houses the Irish national collection of Irish and European art. It is located in the centre of Dublin with one entrance on Merrion Square, beside Leinster House, and another on Clare Street. It was founded in 1854 and opened its doors ten years later...
; John MartinJohn Martin (painter)John Martin was an English Romantic painter, engraver and illustrator.-Biography:Martin was born in July 1789, in a one-room family cottage, at Haydon Bridge, near Hexham in Northumberland, the 4th son of Fenwick Martin, a one time fencing master...
's The Destruction of PompeiiPompeiiThe city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
and HerculaneumHerculaneumHerculaneum was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in AD 79, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania in the shadow of Mt...
this used to be in the Tate BritainTate BritainTate Britain is an art gallery situated on Millbank in London, and part of the Tate gallery network in Britain, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is the oldest gallery in the network, opening in 1897. It houses a substantial collection of the works of J. M. W. Turner.-History:It...
collection until it was destroyed in 1928 when the Thames flooded the gallery basement; Jan van HuysumJan van HuysumJan van Huysum, also spelled Huijsum, was a Dutch painter.-Biography:He was the brother of Jacob van Huysum, the son of the flower painter Justus van Huysum, and the grandson of Jan van Huysum I, who is said to have been expeditious in decorating doorways, screens and vases...
's self portrait now in the Ashmolean Museum; Aert de GelderAert de GelderAert de Gelder was a Dutch painter.De Gelder was born and died in Dordrecht. He was one of Rembrandt’s last pupils while in Amsterdam, studying in his studio from 1661 to 1663...
's The Temple Entrance now in the MauritshuisMauritshuisThe Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis is an art museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. Previously the residence of count John Maurice of Nassau, it now has a large art collection, including paintings by Dutch painters such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter and Frans...
.
Other areas of the house
The house contains over 400 rooms. The ground floor rooms to the east of the Gothic Library was used by the family as personal rooms including the Billiard roomBilliard room
A billiard room is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table...
, Sitting room
Living room
A living room, also known as sitting room, lounge room or lounge , is a room for entertaining adult guests, reading, or other activities...
, Water closet
Flush toilet
A flush toilet is a toilet that disposes of human waste by using water to flush it through a drainpipe to another location. Flushing mechanisms are found more often on western toilets , but many squat toilets also are made for automated flushing...
, Manuscript room, Gun room and Plunge pool
Plunge pool
A plunge pool can be a natural hydrologic fluvial landform feature or a constructed recreational garden feature...
. The rest of the ground floor was given over to the service areas
Servants' quarters
Servants' quarters are those parts of a building, traditionally in a private house, which contain the domestic offices and staff accommodation. From the late 17th century until the early 20th century they were a common feature in all large houses...
. The house has low wings that are set back and project from the east and west pavilions of the south front. These extend north before projecting even further east and west. The full length of the house being over 900 feet (274.3 m). These wings to the east included the riding school
Riding academy
A riding academy or riding center is a school for instruction in equestrianism, or for hiring of horses for pleasure riding.At the time of the Napoleonic Wars large buildings were constructed for them, like Moscow Manege, Mikhailovsky and Konnogvardeisky maneges in St Petersburg....
, coach house
Carriage house
A carriage house, also called remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack.In Great Britain the farm building was called a Cart Shed...
s and at the extreme east the stables designed by Vanbrugh. The west area includes the kitchen
Kitchen
A kitchen is a room or part of a room used for cooking and food preparation.In the West, a modern residential kitchen is typically equipped with a stove, a sink with hot and cold running water, a refrigerator and kitchen cabinets arranged according to a modular design. Many households have a...
(still used as such by the school), the laundry
Laundry
Laundry is a noun that refers to the act of washing clothing and linens, the place where that washing is done, and/or that which needs to be, is being, or has been laundered...
, the dairy
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
and at the extreme west the 138 feet (42.1 m) orangery
Orangery
An orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
, designed by Vanbrugh. Although the Central Pavilion of the south front appears to be only two floors high, there are in fact bedrooms over the State Music & Drawing rooms, these are lit by windows facing respectively east and west. The centre is filled by the Marble Saloon which rises to the full height of the building. There are more bedrooms on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors of the north front, and the west and east pavilions of the south front, where the 2nd floor is disguised in the same way as in the central pavilion.
The restoration of the house and gardens
Since the 1848 sale the maintenance of the house and gardens was neglected. Though the school tried its best it was obvious by the 1980s that a major restoration was needed. On taking over ownership of the gardens the National Trust commissioned a survey on which to base a restoration strategy. Individual trees, boundaries, buildings, lakes, paths and fences were mapped. The first principle was to keep all buildings and planted features that were in existence by the time the last plan of the garden in 1843 was created. Another was to restore the main views and axes of the garden. The process was greatly helped by the Stowe Papers, some 350,000 documents that are now in the collection of The Huntington LibraryThe Huntington Library
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens is an educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington in San Marino, in the San Rafael Hills near Pasadena, California in the United States...
, containing extensive and detailed information on the creation of both the house and gardens.
The first large scale operation was to dredge
Dredge
Dredging is an excavation activity or operation usually carried out at least partly underwater, in shallow seas or fresh water areas with the purpose of gathering up bottom sediments and disposing of them at a different location...
the lakes and other water features. 320,000 tonnes of silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
had to be removed. The wall of the ha-ha had largely collapsed and had to be rebuilt by hand. It was also found that very few trees survived before the 3rd Duke's time; he had all the mature trees felled to sell for their timber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
in order to raise cash. There had been a few plantings of commercial softwood
Softwood
The term softwood is used to describe wood from trees that are known as gymnosperms.Conifers are an example. It may also be used to describe trees, which tend to be evergreen, notable exceptions being bald cypress and the larches....
, including a spruce
Spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus Picea , a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the Family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal regions of the earth. Spruces are large trees, from tall when mature, and can be distinguished by their whorled branches and conical...
plantation on the site of the Saxon Deities. These were felled. Further thinning was carried out, including reopening views between the various buildings and monuments. Replanting of 20,000 trees and shrubs followed, using species present in the original garden. Paths which had become overgrown were re-excavated and eventual covered in gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
from local pits.
Over 100 pieces of statuary
Statue
A statue is a sculpture in the round representing a person or persons, an animal, an idea or an event, normally full-length, as opposed to a bust, and at least close to life-size, or larger...
had been sold from the gardens in 1848, 1921 and 1922, so it was decided to replace them gradually with replica
Replica
A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...
s as and when funds could be raised. In 1989-90 Peter Inskip assessed the condition of the buildings. Work on the restoration of the buildings
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
, based on this survey, was then prioritised. The major restorations have been the Grenville Column (1991), the Temple of Ancient Virtue (1992), the Oxford Gates and Lodges (1994), the Temple of Venus (1995) and the Temple of Concord & Victory (1996). This last had been severely compromised when 16 columns had been removed to build the new school chapel in 1926. Replacement columns were carved and the building re-roofed at the cost of £1,300,000. The cost of this first stage was £10,000,000, the money coming from several sources: a public appeal, the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and grants from English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as well as private donors and other grant-giving bodies. The restoration process adopted an approach where each building, or element of the gardens was informed by archaeology. In order to make informed decisions about what to restore and why, archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
techniques such as geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
, excavation, building recording and monitoring in the form of an archaeological watching brief were all utilised.
In 2002 the World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund
World Monuments Fund is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and training....
placed Stowe house on its List of Most Endangered Sites
2002 World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites
The World Monuments Watch is a flagship advocacy program of the New York-based private non-profit organization, World Monuments Fund that is dedicated to preserving and safeguarding the historic, artistic, and architectural heritage of humankind....
. The school had done its best to keep the house in good repair, including re-roofing the State Dining Room in 1990, repair of the north elevation of the West Pavilion in 1992 and the repair of the Marble Saloon's oculus
Oculus
An Oculus, circular window, or rain-hole is a feature of Classical architecture since the 16th century. They are often denoted by their French name, oeil de boeuf, or "bull's-eye". Such circular or oval windows express the presence of a mezzanine on a building's façade without competing for...
skylight in 1994. On taking over ownership of the house in 1997, the Stowe House Preservation Trust commissioned a survey in order to scope the problem and come up with a restoration plan. The result was a six-phase plan, starting with the most urgent work. The estimated cost in 2002 for all six phases was nearly £40 million.
The phases are: Phase 1, the restoration
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
of the North Front and Colonnades, started in the summer of 2000 and completed in July 2002, much of the money coming from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the Getty Grant Programme
Getty Foundation
The Getty Foundation, based in Los Angeles, California, at the Getty Center, awards grants for "the understanding and preservation of the visual arts". In the past, it funded the Getty Leadership Institute for "current and future museum leaders", which is now at Claremont Graduate University. Its...
and Shanks First Fund. Phase 2, the restoration of the Central Pavilion and South Portico, took place from July 2003 to July 2006, thanks to funding by an anonymous
Anonymity
Anonymity is derived from the Greek word ἀνωνυμία, anonymia, meaning "without a name" or "namelessness". In colloquial use, anonymity typically refers to the state of an individual's personal identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown.There are many reasons why a...
U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philanthropist
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
; the interior of the Marble Saloon was also undertaken. Phase 3, the restoration of the South Front, commenced in the autumn of 2009 and has been divided into sub-phases A, The Large Library roof, facades and ceiling completed July 2010; B, The Eastern Pavilion roof, facades and garden, completed July 2010; C, The Western Pavilion roof, and facades; D, The State Dining room, roof, facades, ceiling and garden. If the funds can be raised it is hoped to complete Phase 3 in 2011 or 2012. Phase 4, the restoration of the West court and building range. Phase 5, the restoration of the Eastern court and building range. Phase 6, the restoration of the State Rooms (the Marble Saloon and Large Library have been restored).
The history of the gardens
In the 1690s, Stowe had a modest early-baroque parterre garden, owing more to Italy than to France, but it has not survived, and, within a relatively short time, Stowe became widely-renowned for its magnificent gardens created by Lord Cobham. The Landscape GardenLandscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
was created in three main phases, showing the development of garden design in 18th-century England (this is the only garden where all three designers worked):
- From 1711 to c.1735 Charles BridgemanCharles BridgemanCharles Bridgeman was an English garden designer in the onset of the naturalistic landscape style. Although he was a key figure in the transition of English garden design from the Anglo-Dutch formality of patterned parterres and avenues to a freer style that incorporated formal, structural and...
was the garden designer, and John VanbrughJohn VanbrughSir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...
from c.1720 until his death in 1726 the architect, they designed an English baroque park, inspired by the work of LondonGeorge London (landscape architect)George London was an English nurseryman and garden designer. He aspired to the baroque style and worked on the gardens at Hampton Court, Melbourne Hall and Wimpole Hall....
, Wise and SwitzerStephen SwitzerStephen Switzer was a garden designer and writer on garden subjects, an early exponent of the English landscape garden who admired and emulated the formal grandeur of French broad prospects and woodland avenues, finding in the state of horticulture an index of cultural health, in Augustan Rome as...
. After Vanbrugh's death James GibbsJames GibbsJames Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
took over as architect in September 1726, he also worked in the English BaroqueEnglish BaroqueEnglish Baroque is a term sometimes used to refer to the developments in English architecture that were parallel to the evolution of Baroque architecture in continental Europe between the Great Fire of London and the Treaty of Utrecht ....
style.
- In 1731 William KentWilliam KentWilliam Kent , born in Bridlington, Yorkshire, was an eminent English architect, landscape architect and furniture designer of the early 18th century.He was baptised as William Cant.-Education:...
was appointed to work with Bridgeman, whose last designs are dated 1735 after which Kent took over as the garden designer. Kent had already created the glorious garden at Rousham HouseRousham HouseRousham House is a Jacobean country house at Rousham in Oxfordshire, England. The house has been in the ownership of one family since it was built.-History:...
, and he and Gibbs built temples, bridges, and other garden structures. Kent's masterpiece at Stowe is the Elysian Fields with its Temple of Ancient Virtue that looks across to his Temple of British Worthies, Kent's architectural work was in the newly fashionable Palladian stylePalladian architecturePalladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...
.
- In March 1741, Capability BrownCapability BrownLancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...
was appointed head gardener. He worked with Gibbs until 1749 and with Kent until the latter's death in 1748. Brown departed in the autumn of 1751 to start his independent career as a garden designer. In these years, Bridgeman's octagonal pond and 11 acres (4.5 ha) lake were extended given a "naturalistic" shape, and a Palladian bridge was added in 1744 probably to Gibbs's design. Brown contrived a Grecian valley which, despite its name, is an abstract composition of landform and woodland and developed the Hawkwell Field, with Gibbs's most notable building the Gothic Temple. As LoudonJohn Claudius LoudonJohn Claudius Loudon was a Scottish botanist, garden and cemetery designer, author and garden magazine editor.-Background:...
remarked in 1831, "nature has done little or nothing; man a great deal, and time has improved his labours".
After Brown left, Earl Temple who had inherited Stowe from his uncle Lord Cobham, turned to a garden designer called Richard Woodward, who had been gardener at Wotton House
Wotton House
Wotton House, or Wotton, the manor house in Wotton Underwood , was rebuilt from the ground up between 1704 and 1714, to a design very similar to that of the contemporary version of Buckingham House, as it is known from engravings...
the Earl's previous home. The work of naturalising the landscape started by Brown was continued under Woodward, this was accomplished by the mid 1750s. At the same time Earl Temple turned his attention to the various temples and monuments. He altered several of Vanburgh's and Gibbs's temples to make them conform to his taste for Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, to accomplish this he employed Giovanni Battista Borra
Giovanni Battista Borra
Giovanni Battista Borra was an Italian architect, engineer and architectural draughtsman.-Life:...
from 1752 to 1756, also at this time several monuments were moved to other parts of the garden. Earl Temple made further alterations in the gardens from the early 1760s, this is when several of the older structures were demolished and this time he turned to his cousin Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
who was assisted by Borra, who's most notable design was the Corinthian Arch.
The next owner of Stowe, the Marquess of Buckingham made relatively few changes to the gardens, he planted the two main approach avenues, added 28 acres (11.3 ha) to the garden east of the Cobham Monument and altered a few buildings, Vincenzo Valdrè was his architect, most notably the Queen's Temple and built a few new structures, such as The Menagerie with its formal garden and the Buckingham Lodges at the southern end of the Grand Avenue. He also created the formal gardens within the balustrade he added to the south front of the house and demolished a few more monuments in the gardens.
The last significant changes to the gardens were made by the next two owners of Stowe, the 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, he succeeded in buying the Lamport Estate in 1826, this was immediately to the east of the gardens, adding 17 acres (6.9 ha) to the south-east of the gardens to form the Lamport gardens, this work was overseen by the head gardener, James Brown, he remodelled the eastern arm of the Octagon Lake and created a cascade beyond the Palladian Bridge, from 1840 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson created rock and water gardens in the new garden, the architect Edward Blore
Edward Blore
Edward Blore was a 19th century British landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland ....
was also employed to build the Lamport Lodge and Gates as a carriage entrance, he also remodelled the Water Stratford Lodge at the start of the Oxford Avenue.
As Stowe evolved from an English baroque garden into a pioneering landscape
Landscape garden
The term landscape garden is often used to describe the English garden design style characteristic of the eighteenth century, that swept the Continent replacing the formal Renaissance garden and Garden à la française models. The work of Lancelot 'Capability' Brown is particularly influential.The...
park, the gardens became an attraction for many of the nobility, including political leaders. Indeed, Stowe is said to be the first English garden for which a guide book was produced. Wars and rebellions were reputedly discussed among the garden's many temples; the artwork of the time reflected this by portraying caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s of the better-known politicians of history taking their ease in similar settings. Stowe began to evolve into a series of natural views to be appreciated from a perambulation rather than from a well-chosen central point. In its final form the Gardens were the largest and most elaborate example of what became known in Europe as the English garden
English garden
The English garden, also called English landscape park , is a style of Landscape garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical Garden à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe. The...
. The main gardens, enclosed within the ha-has (sunken or trenched fences) over four miles (6 km) in length, cover over 400 acres (161.9 ha), but the park also has many buildings, including gate lodges and other monuments.
Many of the temples and monuments in the garden celebrate the political ideas of the Whig party and include quotes by many of the writers who are part of Augustan literature
Augustan literature
Augustan literature is a style of English literature produced during the reigns of Queen Anne, King George I, and George II on the 1740s with the deaths of Pope and Swift...
, also philosophers
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and ideas belonging to the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
.
The fame of the gardens was spread by various means.
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
who first stayed at the house in 1724, wrote the following passage celebrating the design of Stowe as part of a tribute to Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
. The full title of the 1st edition (1731) was An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Earl of Burlington, Occasion'd by his Publishing Palladio's Designs of the Baths, Arches, Theatres, &c. of Ancient Rome. This passage consists of lines 47-70 of the poem.
To build, to plant, whatever you intend,
To rear the Column, or the Arch to bend,
To swell the Terras, or to sink the Grot;
In all, let Nature never be forgot.
But treat the Goddess like a modest fair,
Nor over-dress, nor leave her wholly bare;
Let not each beauty ev'ry where be spy'd,
Where half the skill is decently to hide.
He gains all points who pleasingly confounds
Surprises, varies, and conceals the Bounds.
Consult the Genius of the Place in all;
That tells the Waters or to rise, or fall,
Or helps th' ambitious Hill the heav'n to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatres the Vale,
Calls in the Country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades,
Now breaks or now directs th' intending Lines;
Paints as you plant, and, as you work, designs.
Still follow Sense, of ev'ry Art the Soul,
Parts answ'ring parts shall slide into a whole,
Spontaneous beauties all around advance,
Start ev'n from Difficulty, strike from Chance;
Nature shall join you, Time shall make it grow
A Work to wonder at--perhaps a STOWE.'
In 1730 James Thomson published his poem Autumn, part of his four works The Seasons, these are lines 1033-81, which are about Stowe:
Oh! bear me then to vast embowering shades,
To twilight groves, and visionary vales,
To weeping grottoes, and prophetic glooms!
Where angel forms athwart the solemn dusk
Tremendous sweep, or seem to sweep along;
And voices more than human, through the void
Deep-sounding, seize the enthusiastic ear.
Or is this gloom too much? Then lead, ye powers
That o'er the garden and the rural seat
Preside, which shining through the cheerful land
In countless numbers blest Britannia sees,
Oh lead me to the wide-extended walks,
The fair majestic paradise of Stowe!
Not Persian Cyrus on Ionia's shore
E'er saw such sylvan scenes; such various art
By genius fired, such ardent genius tamed
By cool judicious art -- that in the strife,
All-beauteous Nature fears to be outdone.
And there, O Pitt, thy country's early boast,
There let me sit beneath the sheltered slopes,
Or in that temple where, in future times,
Thou well shalt merit a distinguished name;
And with thy converse blest, catch the last smiles
Of Autumn beaming o'er the yellow woods.
While there with thee the enchanted round I walk,
The regulated wild, gay fancy then
Will tread in thought the groves of Attic land;
Will from thy standard taste refine her own,
Correct her pencil to the purest truth
Of Nature, or, the unimpassioned shades
Forsaking, raise it to the human mind.
Or if hereafter she, with juster hand,
Shall draw the tragic scene, instruct her thou,
To mark the varied movements of the heart,
What every decent character requires,
And every passion speaks -- oh! through her strain
Breathe thy pathetic eloquence! that moulds
The attentive senate, charms, persuades, exalts,
Of honest zeal the indignant lightning throws,
And shakes corruption on her venal throne.
While thus we talk, and through Elysian vales
Delighted rove, perhaps a sigh escapes;
What pity, Cobham, thou thy verdant files
Of ordered trees shouldst here inglorious range,
Instead of squadrons flaming o'er the field,
And long embattled hosts! when the proud foe,
The faithless vain disturber of mankind,
Insulting Gaul, has roused the world to war;
When keen, once more, within their bounds to press
Those polished robbers, those ambitious slaves,
The British youth would hail thy wise command,
Thy tempered ardor, and thy veteran skill
In 1732 Lord Cobham's nephew Gilbert West
Gilbert West
Gilbert West was a minor English poet, translator and Christian apologist in the early and middle eighteenth century. Samuel Johnson included him in his Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets.-Biography:...
wrote a lengthy poem The Gardens of the Right Honourable Richard Viscount Cobham that is actually a guide to the gardens in verse form. Charles Bridgeman commissioned 15 engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
s of the gardens from Jacques Rigaud, these were published in 1739. In 1744 Benton Seeley published A Description of the Gardens of Lord Cobham at Stow Buckinghamshire. In 1748 William Gilpin
William Gilpin (clergyman)
The Reverend William Gilpin was an English artist, clergyman, schoolmaster, and author, best known as one of the originators of the idea of the picturesque.-Early life:...
produced the Views of the Temples and other Ornamental Buildings in the Gardens at Stow followed in 1749 by A Dialogue upon the Gardens at Stow. A Pirated copy of all three books was published in 1750 by George Bickham
George Bickham the Elder
George Bickham the Elder was an English writing master and engraver. He is best known for his engraving work in The Universal Penman, a collection of writing exemplars which helped to popularise the English Round Hand script in the 18th century....
as The Beauties of Stow. To cater to the large number of French visitors in 1748 a French guidebook Les Charmes de Stow was published. In the 1750s Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
had visited the gardens and his writings about the gardens helped spread their fame and influence throughout Europe, he had this to say 'Stowe is composed of very beautiful and very picturesque spots chosen to represent different kinds of scenery, all of which seem natural except when considered as a whole, as in the Chinese gardens of which I was telling you. The master and creator of this superb domain has also erected ruins, temples and ancient buildings, like the scenes, exhibit a magnificence which is more than human'. George Louis Le Rouge published in 1777 Détails de nouveaux jardins à la mode that included engravings of buildings at Stowe as well as at other famous gardens in Britain. In Germany Christian Cay Lorenz Hirschfeld published Theorie der Gartenkunst in 5 volumes in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
1779–1785, that included Stowe. The last edition of the Seeley guide was published in 1827. In 1805-9 John Claude Nattes
John Claude Nattes
John Claude Nattes c.1765-1839 was a watercolourist and topographical draughtsman of either French or English origin.In 1789 Sir Joseph Banks commissioned him to record the buildings of Lincolnshire and this resulted in more than 700 drawings and watercolours, made between 1789 and 1797, which...
painted 105 wash drawings of both the house and gardens.
The main divisions of the garden are:
The approaches
There are two main entrances to the Park, the Grand AvenueAvenue (landscape)
__notoc__In landscaping, an avenue or allée is traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each, which is used, as its French source venir indicates, to emphasize the "coming to," or arrival at a landscape or architectural feature...
, from Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
to the south and the Oxford Avenue from the south-west, this leads to the forecourt of the house. The Grand Avenue was created in the 1770s, 100 feet (30.5 m) in width and one and half miles in length, lined originally with elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
trees. The elms succumbed in the 1970s to Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...
and was replanted with alternate beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
& chestnut
Chestnut
Chestnut , some species called chinkapin or chinquapin, is a genus of eight or nine species of deciduous trees and shrubs in the beech family Fagaceae, native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce.-Species:The chestnut belongs to the...
trees. The Grand Avenue by the Corinthian Arch turns to the west to join the Queen's Drive that connects to the Oxford Avenue just below the Boycott Pavilions. The Oxford Avenue was planted in the 1790s.
The buildings in this area are:
- The Buckingham Lodges these are over three miles (5 km) due south of the centre of the House, probably designed by Vincenzo Valdrè, dated 1805 they flank the southern entrance to the Grand Avenue.
- The Corinthian Arch designed in 1765 by Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron CamelfordThomas Pitt, 1st Baron CamelfordThomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford was a British politician and connoisseur of art.-Early life:He was the son of Thomas Pitt of Boconnoc , a brother of William Pitt the Elder, and was born and baptised at Boconnoc in Cornwall on 3 March 1737. His mother was Christian, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas...
, Lord Temple's cousin. Built from stone 60 feet (18.3 m) in height and 60 feet (18.3 m) wide. It is modelled on ancient Roman Triumphal archTriumphal archA triumphal arch is a monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crowned with a flat entablature or attic on which a statue might be...
s. This is located at the northern end of the Grand Avenue over a mile and a half due south of the centre of the House, it is on the top of a hill. The central arch is flanked on the south side by paired CorinthianCorinthian orderThe Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
pilasters and on the north side by paired Corinthian engaged columns. The arch contains two four-storey residences originally for game-keepersGamekeeperA gamekeeper is a person who manages an area of countryside to make sure there is enough game for shooting, or fish for angling, and who actively manages areas of woodland, moorland, waterway or farmland for the benefit of game birds, deer, fish and wildlife in general.Typically, a gamekeeper is...
. The flanking TuscanTuscan orderAmong canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columns were added in 1780.
- The New Inn situated about 100 metres to the east of the Corinthian Arch, it was built in 1717 specifically to provide accommodation for visitors to the gardens, the red brick Inn included a mini breweryBreweryA brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....
where barleyBarleyBarley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
was brewed into beerBeerBeer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...
, a farmFarmA farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
and dairyDairyA dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
. The Inn closed in the 1850s, it then being used as a farm, smithyForgeA forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...
and kennels for deer hounds. The building was purchased in a ruinous condition, by the National Trust in 2005. In 2010 work started on converting it into the new visitor centre, from 2011 this will be the new entrance for visitors to the gardens. They currently use The Oxford Gates. The New Inn is linked by the Bell Gate Drive to the Bell Gate next to the eastern Lake Pavilion, so called because visitors had to ring the bell by the gate to gain admittance to the Garden.
- The Water Stratford Lodge this is located over a mile from the house near the border with OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, at the very start of the Oxford Avenue, by the village of the same nameWater StratfordWater Stratford is a village and civil parish on the River Great Ouse in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. It is about west of Buckingham, near the boundary with Oxfordshire.-Manor:...
. Built in 1843 the single storey lodge is in ItalianateItalianate architectureThe Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
style with a porch flanked by two windows, the dressings are of stone, with rendered walls. The architect was Edward Blore.
- The Oxford Gates The central piers were designed by William Kent in 1731, for a position to the north-east, they were moved to their present location in 1761, and iron railings added either side, pavilions at either end were added in the 1780s to the design of the architect Vincenzo Valdrè. The piers have coats of arms in Coade stoneCoade stoneLithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
manufactured by Eleanor CoadeEleanor CoadeEleanor Coade was a devout Baptist and remained unmarried until her death on 16 November 1821 in Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London. Her obituary notice was published in The Gentleman's Magazine which declared her ‘the sole inventor and proprietor of an art which deserves considerable notice’...
.
- The Oxford Bridge built in 1761 to cross the river Dad after this had been dammed to form what was renamed the Oxford Water. Probably designed by Earl Temple. It is stone of hump-backedArch bridgeAn arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
form, having three arches the central one being slightly wider and higher than the flanking ones. With a solid parapet, there are eight decorative urns places at the ends of the parapets and above the two piers.
- The Boycott Pavilions of stone designed by James Gibbs, the eastern one built 1728 the western in 1729. Named after the nearby vanished hamlet of BoycottBoycott, BuckinghamshireBoycott is a hamlet in the parish of Stowe in north Buckinghamshire, England.Boycott was originally an Anglo Saxon settlement. Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Boiacot = either "Boia's Cottage" or "the cottage of the boys or servants"...
. Located on the brow of a hill overlooking the river Dad, they flank the Oxford drive. Originally both were in the form of square planned open belvederesBelvedere (structure)Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
with stone pyramidal roofs. In 1758 the architect Giovanni Battista BorraGiovanni Battista BorraGiovanni Battista Borra was an Italian architect, engineer and architectural draughtsman.-Life:...
altered them, replacing them with the lead domes, with a round dormer window in each face and an open lantern in the centre. The eastern pavilion was converted into a three storey house in 1952.
The forecourt
Located in front of the north facadeFacade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
of the house, this has in its centre:
- The Statue of George I a greater than life size equestrian statue of King George IGeorge I of Great BritainGeorge I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....
by Andries Carpentière located in the middle of the Forecourt, made of cast lead in 1723. It is on a tall stone plinth.
The south vista
This includes the tree flanked sloping lawnLawn
A lawn is an area of aesthetic and recreational land planted with grasses or other durable plants, which usually are maintained at a low and consistent height. Low ornamental meadows in natural landscaping styles are a contemporary option of a lawn...
s to the south of the House down to the Octagon Lake and a mile and a half beyond to the Corinthian Arch beyond which stretches the Grand Avenue of over a mile and a half to Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
. This is the oldest area of the gardens, there were walled gardens on the site of the south lawn from the 1670s that belonged to the old house. These gardens were altered in the 1680s when the house was rebuilt on the present site. It was again remodelled by Bridgeman from 1716. The lawns with the flanking woods took on their current character from 1741 when 'Capability' Brown re-landscaped this area.
The buildings in this area are:
- The Doric Arch of stone erected in 1768 for the visit of Princess Amelia, probably to the design of Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford, is a simple arched flanked by fluted DoricDoric orderThe Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
pilasters with an elaborate entablature with triglyphTriglyphTriglyph is an architectural term for the vertically channeled tablets of the Doric frieze, so called because of the angular channels in them, two perfect and one divided, the two chamfered angles or hemiglyphs being reckoned as one. The square recessed spaces between the triglyphs on a Doric...
s and carved metopesMetope (architecture)In classical architecture, a metope is a rectangular architectural element that fills the space between two triglyphs in a Doric frieze, which is a decorative band of alternating triglyphs and metopes above the architrave of a building of the Doric order...
. Supporting a tall attic. This leads to the Elysian fields.
- Statue of George II on the western edge of the lawn was rebuilt in 2004 by the National Trust. This is a monument to King George IIGeorge II of Great BritainGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
, originally built in 1724 before he became king. The monument consists of an unfluted Corinthian column on a plinth over 30 feet (9.1 m) high that supports the Portland stone sculpture of the King which is a copy of the statue sold in 1921. The pillar has this inscription from Horace'sHoraceQuintus Horatius Flaccus , known in the English-speaking world as Horace, was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus.-Life:...
Ode 15, Book IV:
Crevere Vires, Famaque & Imperi
Porrecta Majestas ad ortum
Solis ab Hesperio Cubili
Custode rerum Cæsare
GEORGIO AUGUSTO.
(Under the care of Cæsar's scepter'd hand,
With strength and fame increas'd, this favour'd Land
The Majesty of her vast Empire spread,
From the Sun rising to his Western bed.)
- The Lake Pavilions these were designed by Vanbrugh in 1719, they are on the edge of the ha-ha flanking the central vista through the Park to the Corinthian Arch. They were moved further apart in 1764 and their details made neo-classicalNeoclassical architectureNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
by the architect Borra. Raised on a low podium they are reached by a flight of eight steps, they are pedimented of four fluted Doric columns in width by two in depth, with a solid back wall and with cofferCofferA coffer in architecture, is a sunken panel in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault...
ed plaster ceiling. Behind the eastern pavilion is the Bell Gate, this was used by the public when visiting the gardens in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Elysian fields
Is to the immediate east of the South Vista, designed by William Kent, work started on this area of the gardens in 1734. Covering about 40 acres (16.2 ha). There is a series of buildings and monuments surrounding two narrow lakes, called the river StyxStyx
In Greek mythology the Styx is the river that forms the boundary between the underworld and the world of the living, as well as a goddess and a nymph that represents the river.Styx may also refer to:-Popular culture:...
, that step down to a branch of the Octagon Lake. The adoption of the name eludes to Elysium
Elysium
Elysium is a conception of the afterlife that evolved over time and was maintained by certain Greek religious and philosophical sects, and cults. Initially separate from Hades, admission was initially reserved for mortals related to the gods and other heroes...
, and the monuments in this area are to the virtuous dead of both Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and ancient Greece
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
. The main species of trees originally planted included alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...
, elm, chestnut & pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
also Ivy
Ivy
Ivy, plural ivies is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and across central-southern Asia east to Japan and Taiwan.-Description:On level ground they...
was planted and encouraged to grow over dead tree-trunks to create a suitable melancholy
Melancholia
Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...
mood. The buildings in this area are:
- Saint Mary's Church located in the woods between the House and the Elysian Fields is Stowe parish churchParish churchA parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....
. This is the only surviving structure from the old villageVillageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of StoweStowe, BuckinghamshireStowe is a civil parish and former village about northwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The parish includes the hamlets of Boycott, Dadford and Lamport....
, dating from the 14th century, the building consists of an naveNaveIn Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
with aisles and a west tower, a chancelChancelIn church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
with a chapel to the north and an east window c.1300 with reticulated traceryTraceryIn architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
. Lancelot "Capability" Brown was married in the church in 1744. The church contains a fine Laurence WhistlerLaurence WhistlerSir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler, CBE was a British poet and artist who devoted himself to glass engraving, on goblets and bowls blown to his own designs, and on large-scale panels and windows in churches and private houses...
etched glass window in memory of May Close-Smith.
- The Temple of Ancient Virtue built in 1737 to the designs of Kent, in the form of a TholosTholosΤholos is the name given to several Ancient Greek structures and buildings:**The Tholos at Athens was the building which housed the Prytaneion, or seat of government, in ancient Athens...
, a circular domeDomeA dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
d building surrounded by columns. In this case they are unfluted Ionic columns, 16 in number, raised on a podium, there are twelve steps up to the two arched doorless entrances. Within are four niches one between the two doorways. They contain four life size sculptures (plaster copies of the originals by Peter ScheemakersPeter ScheemakersPeter Scheemakers was a Flemish Roman Catholic sculptor who worked for most of his life in London, Great Britain....
sold in 1921). They are EpaminondasEpaminondasEpaminondas , or Epameinondas, was a Theban general and statesman of the 4th century BC who transformed the Ancient Greek city-state of Thebes, leading it out of Spartan subjugation into a preeminent position in Greek politics...
(generalGeneralA general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
), Lycurgus (lawmakerLegislatorA legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
), HomerHomerIn the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...
(poetPoetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
) and SocratesSocratesSocrates was a classical Greek Athenian philosopher. Credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy, he is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of later classical writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon, and the plays of his contemporary ...
(philosopher).
- The Temple of British Worthies designed by Kent and built 1734-5, built of stone, it is a curving roofless exedraExedraIn architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
with a large stone pier in the centre surmounted by a stepped pyramid containing an oval niche that contains a bust of MercuryMercury (mythology)Mercury was a messenger who wore winged sandals, and a god of trade, the son of Maia Maiestas and Jupiter in Roman mythology. His name is related to the Latin word merx , mercari , and merces...
, a copy of the original. The curving wall contains 6 nicheNiche (architecture)A niche in classical architecture is an exedra or an apse that has been reduced in size, retaining the half-dome heading usual for an apse. Nero's Domus Aurea was the first semi-private dwelling that possessed rooms that were given richly varied floor plans, shaped with niches and exedras;...
s either side of the central pier. With further niches on the two ends of the wall and two more behind. These are filled by bustBust (sculpture)A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
s, half carved by John Michael RysbrackJohn Michael RysbrackJohannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack , was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor. His birth-year is sometimes given as 1693 or 1684....
these are John MiltonJohn MiltonJohn Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
, William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, John LockeJohn LockeJohn Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, Sir Isaac NewtonIsaac NewtonSir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
, Sir Francis BaconFrancis BaconFrancis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Elizabeth IElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, William IIIWilliam III of EnglandWilliam III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and Inigo JonesInigo JonesInigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
the other eight are by Peter Scheemakers these are Alexander PopeAlexander PopeAlexander Pope was an 18th-century English poet, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. He is the third-most frequently quoted writer in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, after Shakespeare and Tennyson...
, Sir Thomas GreshamThomas GreshamSir Thomas Gresham was an English merchant and financier who worked for King Edward VI of England and for Edward's half-sisters, Queens Mary I and Elizabeth I.-Family and childhood:...
, King Alfred the Great, The Black PrinceEdward, the Black PrinceEdward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, Sir Walter Ralegh, Sir Francis DrakeFrancis DrakeSir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
, John HampdenJohn HampdenJohn Hampden was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643) was an English politician, the eldest son of William Hampden, of Hampden House, Great Hampden in Buckinghamshire, John Hampden (ca. 15951643)...
and Sir John BarnardJohn Barnard (British politician)Sir John Barnard was a British Whig politician and Lord Mayor of London.He was a son of John Barnard of London, a Quaker merchant, and his wife Sarah, daughter of Robert Payne of Play Hatch in Sonning on the border of Berkshire and Oxfordshire.He was a Sheriff of London in 1736 and elected Lord...
(WhigBritish Whig PartyThe Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
MPMember of ParliamentA Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
and opponent of the Whig Prime Minister Sir Robert WalpoleRobert WalpoleRobert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
). There is a small pediment above each niche that breaks forward slightly from the wall. There are three broad steps following the curving wall. The choice of who was considered a 'British Worthy' was very much influenced by the Whig politics of the family, the chosen individuals falling into two groups, eight known for their actions and eight known for their thoughts and ideas.
- The Shell Bridge designed by Kent, finished by 1739, it is actually a dam disguised as a bridge of five arches and is decorated with shells.
- The Grotto probably designed by Kent in the 1730s, located at the head of the serpentine 'river Styx' that flows through the Elysian Fields. There are two pavilions one ornamented with shells the other with pebbles and flints. In the central room is a circular recess in which are two basins of white marble. In the upper is a marble statue of Venus rising from her bath, water falls from the upper into the lower basin, there passing under the floor to the front, where it falls into the river Styx. A tablet of marble is inscribed with these lines from Milton:
Goddess of the silver wave,
To thy thick embower'd cave,
To arched walks, and twilight groves,
And shadows brown, which Sylvan loves
When the sun begins to fling
His flaring beams, me, Goddess, bring.
- The Seasons Fountain probably erected in 1805, built from white statuary marble, spring water flows from it, the basic structure is made from an 18th century chimneypiece, it used to be decorated with WedgwoodWedgwoodWedgwood, strictly speaking Josiah Wedgwood and Sons, is a pottery firm owned by KPS Capital Partners, a private equity company based in New York City, USA. Wedgwood was founded on May 1, 1759 by Josiah Wedgwood and in 1987 merged with Waterford Crystal to create Waterford Wedgwood, an...
plaques of the four seasons and had silver drinking cups suspended on either side.
- The Grenville Column originally erected in 1749 near the Grecian Valley it was moved to its present location in 1756, Earl Temple probably designed it. It commemorates one of Lord Cobham's nephews Captain Thomas GrenvilleThomas Grenville (sailor)Thomas Grenville was a British naval officer and Member of Parliament for Bridport. He was born in 1719 the son of Richard Grenville....
RNRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
killed in 1747 while fighting the French off Cape FinisterreCape Finisterreright|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
aboard HMS Defiance under the command of Admiral AnsonGeorge Anson, 1st Baron AnsonAdmiral of the Fleet George Anson, 1st Baron Anson PC, FRS, RN was a British admiral and a wealthy aristocrat, noted for his circumnavigation of the globe and his role overseeing the Royal Navy during the Seven Years' War...
, the monument is based on an Ancient Roman naval monument, a Rostral columnRostral columnA rostral column is a type of victory column, originating in ancient Greece and Rome where they were erected to commemorate a naval military victory. Traditionally, rostra — the prows or rams of captured ships — were mounted on the columns...
, one that is carved with the prows of Roman galleys sticking out from the shaft. The order used is Tuscan, and is surmounted by a statue of CalliopeCalliopeIn Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
holding a scroll inscibed Non nisi grandia canto (Only sing of heroic deeds), there is a lengthy inscription in Latin added to the base of the column after it was moved.
- The Cook Monument built in 1778 as a monument to Captain James Cook, it takes the form of a stone GlobeGlobeA globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
on a pedestal. It was moved to its present position in 1842. The pedestal has a carved relief of Cook's head in profile and the inscription Jacobo Cook/MDDLXXVIII.
The Hawkwell Field
Is to the east of the Elysian Fields, also known as The Eastern Garden. This area of the gardens was developed in the 1730s & 1740s, an open area surrounded by some of the larger buildings. The buildings in this area are:- The Gothic Temple designed by James GibbsJames GibbsJames Gibbs was one of Britain's most influential architects. Born in Scotland, he trained as an architect in Rome, and practised mainly in England...
in 1741 and completed about 1748, this is the only building in the Gardens built from ironstoneIronstoneIronstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical repacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron compound from which iron either can be or once was smelted commercially. This term is customarily restricted to hard coarsely...
, all the others use a creamy-yellow limestoneLimestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. The building is triangular in plan of two stories with a pentagonal shaped tower at each corner, one of which rises two floors higher than the main building, the other two towers have lanterns on their roofs. Above the door is a quote from Pierre CorneillePierre CorneillePierre Corneille was a French tragedian who was one of the three great seventeenth-century French dramatists, along with Molière and Racine...
's play Horace: Je rends grace aux Dieux de n'estre pas Roman (I thank the gods I am not a Roman). The interior includes a circular room of two stories covered by a shallow dome that is painted to mimic mosaic work including shields representing the HeptarchyHeptarchyThe Heptarchy is a collective name applied to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of south, east, and central Great Britain during late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, conventionally identified as seven: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex and Wessex...
. Dedicated 'To the Liberty of our Ancestors'. To quote John Martin Robinson: 'to the Whigs, SaxonAnglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
and Gothic were interchangeably associated with freedom and ancient English liberties: trial by juryJury trialA jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
(erroneously thought to have been founded by King Alfred at a moot on Salisbury Plain), Magna CartaMagna CartaMagna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
, parliamentary representationParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
, all the things which the Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
and Glorious RevolutionGlorious RevolutionThe Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
had protected from the wiles of StuartHouse of StuartThe House of Stuart is a European royal house. Founded by Robert II of Scotland, the Stewarts first became monarchs of the Kingdom of Scotland during the late 14th century, and subsequently held the position of the Kings of Great Britain and Ireland...
would-be absolutismAbsolute monarchyAbsolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, and to the preservation of which Lord Cobham and his 'Patriots' were seriously devoted.' The Temple was used in the 1930s by the school as the Officer Training Corps armoury. It is now available as a holiday let through The Landmark Trust.
- The Pebble Alcove built of stone before 1739 probably to the designs of Kent. It takes the form of an exedraExedraIn architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
enclosed by a stone work surmounted by a pediment. The exedra is decorated with coloured pebbles, including the family coat of arms below which is the Temple family motto TEMPLA QUAM DELECTA (How Beautiful are thy Temples).
- The Chatham UrnChatham VaseThe Chatham Vase is a stone sculpture commissioned as a memorial to William Pitt the Elder by his wife, Hester, Countess of Chatham. It was originally erected at their house in Burton Pynsent, in 1781, and moved to the grounds of Chevening House in 1934, where it currently resides.The inscription...
this is a copy of the large stone urnUrnAn urn is a vase, ordinarily covered, that usually has a narrowed neck above a footed pedestal. "Knife urns" placed on pedestals flanking a dining-room sideboard were an English innovation for high-style dining rooms of the late 1760s...
carved in 1780 by John Bacon. It was placed in 1831 on a small island in the Octagon Lake. It is a memorial to William Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of ChathamWilliam Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham PC was a British Whig statesman who led Britain during the Seven Years' War...
former Prime Minister who was a relative of the Temple family, it was sold in 1848 and is now at CheveningCheveningChevening, also known as Chevening House, is a country house at Chevening in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, in England. It is an official residence of the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom...
house.
- Congreave's Monument of stone designed by Kent in 1736, this is a memorial to William CongreveWilliam CongreveWilliam Congreve was an English playwright and poet.-Early life:Congreve was born in Bardsey, West Yorkshire, England . His parents were William Congreve and his wife, Mary ; a sister was buried in London in 1672...
. It is in the form of a pyramid with an urn carved on one side with ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
's head, pan pipes and masks of comedy and tragedy; the truncated pyramid supports the sculpture of an apeApeApes are Old World anthropoid mammals, more specifically a clade of tailless catarrhine primates, belonging to the biological superfamily Hominoidea. The apes are native to Africa and South-east Asia, although in relatively recent times humans have spread all over the world...
looking at itself in a mirror, beneath are these inscriptions:
Vitae imitatio Consuetudinis speculum Comoedia
(Comedy is the imitation of life, and the glass of fashion)
Ingenio Acri, faceto, expolito, Moribusque Urabnis
candidis, facillimis, Gulielmi Congreve, Hoc Qualecunque
desiderii sui Solamen simul & Monumentum Posuit
(In the year 1736, COBHAM erected this poor consolation of
as well as Monument of, his loss of the piercing, elegant, polished
Wit and civilized candid most unaffected Manners of William Congreve)
- The Temple of Friendship built of stone in 1739 to the designs of Gibbs. Located in the south-east corner of the garden. Inscribed on the exterior of the building is AMICITIAE S (sacred to friendship). It was badly damaged by fire in 1840 and remains a ruin. Built as a pavilion to entertain Lord Cobham's friends it was originally decorated with muralMuralA mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s by Francesco Sleter including on the ceiling BritanniaBritanniaBritannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
the walls having allegoricalAllegoryAllegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
paintings symbolising friendship, justiceJusticeJustice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics, rationality, law, natural law, religion, or equity, along with the punishment of the breach of said ethics; justice is the act of being just and/or fair.-Concept of justice:...
and libertyLibertyLiberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
. There was a series of ten white marble busts on black marble pedestals around the walls of Cobham (this bust with that of Lord Westmoreland is now in the V&A Museum) and his friends: Frederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of WalesFrederick, Prince of Wales was a member of the House of Hanover and therefore of the Hanoverian and later British Royal Family, the eldest son of George II and father of George III, as well as the great-grandfather of Queen Victoria...
; Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of ChesterfieldPhilip Stanhope, 4th Earl of ChesterfieldPhilip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield PC KG was a British statesman and man of letters.A Whig, Lord Stanhope, as he was known until his father's death in 1726, was born in London. After being educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, he went on the Grand Tour of the continent...
; George Lyttelton, 1st Baron LytteltonGeorge Lyttelton, 1st Baron LytteltonGeorge Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton PC , known as Sir George Lyttelton, Bt between 1751 and 1756, was a British politician and statesman and a patron of the arts.-Background and education:...
; Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of WestmorlandThomas Fane, 8th Earl of WestmorlandThomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland , MP for Lyme Regis and a lord commissioner of trade. Thomas Fane was the second son of Henry Fane of Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset and Anne sister and coheir of John Scrope, children of Thomas Scrope, a Bristol merchant. Anne was a granddaughter of Colonel...
; William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham; Allen Bathurst, 1st Earl BathurstAllen Bathurst, 1st Earl BathurstAllen Bathurst, 1st Earl Bathurst PC , known as the Lord Bathurst from 1712 to 1772, was a British politician....
; Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple; Alexander Hume-Campbell, 2nd Earl of MarchmontAlexander Hume-Campbell, 2nd Earl of MarchmontAlexander Hume-Campbell, 2nd Earl of Marchmont PC , was a Scottish nobleman, politician and judge.Third but eldest surviving son of Patrick Hume, 1st Earl of Marchmont, by his spouse Grisel , daughter of Sir Thomas Ker of Cavers, he assumed the additional surname of Campbell upon his marriage in...
; John Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl GowerJohn Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl GowerJohn Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Gower PC , known as The Baron Gower from 1709 to 1754, was a British Tory politician, one of the first Tories to enter government in the 18th century.- Background :...
. Dated 1741, three were carved by Peter Scheemakers: Cobham, Prince Frederick & Lord Chesterfield, the rest were carved by Thomas Adye. All the busts were sold in 1848. The building consisted of a square room rising through two floors surmounted by a pyramidal roof with a lantern. The front has a porticoPorticoA portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
of four TuscanTuscan orderAmong canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
columns supporting a pediment, the sides have arcadesArcade (architecture)An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....
of one arch deep by three wide also supporting pediments. The arcades and portico with the wall behind are still standing.
- The Palladian Bridge
This is a copy of the bridge at Wilton House
Wilton House
Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
, the main difference is that the Stowe version is designed to be used by horse drawn carriages so is set lower with shallow ramps instead of steps on the approach. Completed in 1738 probably under the direction of Gibbs. Of five arches, the central wide and segmental with carved keystone
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
, the two flanking semi-circular also with carved keystones, the two outer segmental. There is a balustraded parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
, the middle three arches also supporting an open pavilion, above the central arch this consists of colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
s of four full and two half columns of unfluted Roman Ionic order. Above the flanking arches there are pavilions with arches on all four sides, these have engaged columns on their flanks and ends of the same order as the colonnade which in turn support pediments, the roof is of slate, with an elaborate plaster ceiling. It originally crossed a stream that emptied from the Octagon Lake, when the lake was enlarged and deepened, made more natural in shape in 1752, this part of the stream became a branch of the lake.
- The Queen's Temple originally designed by Gibbs in 1742 and was then called the Lady's Temple, this was designed for Lady Cobham to entertain her friends. But the building was extensively remodelled in 1772-4 to give it a neo-classical form. The architect was probably Thomas Pitt, the portico is based on the Maison CarréeMaison CarréeThe Maison Carrée is an ancient building in Nîmes, southern France; it is one of the best preserved temples to be found anywhere in the territory of the former Roman Empire.- History :...
. Further alterations were made in 1790 by Vincenzo Valdrè to commorate George IIIGeorge III of the United KingdomGeorge III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
recovery from madness with the help of Queen CharlotteCharlotte of Mecklenburg-StrelitzCharlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...
after whom the building was renamed. The main floor is raised up on a podium, the main facade consists of a portico of four fluted CompositeComposite orderThe composite order is a mixed order, combining the volutes of the Ionic order capital with the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order. The composite order volutes are larger, however, and the composite order also has echinus molding with egg-and-dart ornamentation between the volutes...
columns, these are approached by a balustraded flight of steps the width of the portico. The facade is wider than the portico, the flanking walls having niches containing ornamental urns. The large door is fully glazed. The room within is the most elaborately decorated of any of the Garden's buildings. The ScagliolaScagliolaScagliola , is a technique for producing stucco columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones...
Corinthian columns and pilasters are based on the Temple of Venus and RomaTemple of Venus and RomaThe Temple of Venus and of Rome — in Latin, Templum Veneris et Romae — is thought to have been the largest temple in Ancient Rome. Located on the Velian Hill, between the eastern edge of the Forum Romanum and the Colosseum, it was dedicated to the goddesses Venus Felix and Roma Aeterna...
, the barrel-vaulted ceiling is coffered. There are several plaster medallions around the walls, BritanniaBritanniaBritannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
Deject, with this inscription Desideriis icta fidelibus Quaerit Patria Caesarem (For Caeser's life, with anxious hopes and fears Britannia lifts to Heaven a nation's tears), Britannia with a palm branch sacrificing to Aesculapius with this inscription O Sol pulcher! O laudande, Canam recepto Caesare felix (Oh happy days! with rapture Britons sing the day when Heavenrestore their favourite King!) and Britannia supporting a medallion of the Queen with the inscription Charlottae Sophiae Augustae, Pietate erga Regem, erga Rempublicam Virtute et constantia, In difficillimis temporibus spectatissimae D.D.D. Georgius M. de Buckingham MDCCLXXXIX. (To the Queen, Most respectable in the most difficult moments, for her attachment and zeal for the public service, George Marquess of Buckingham dedicates this monument). Other plaster decoration on the walls are 1. Trophies of Religion, Justice and Mercy, 2. Agriculture and Manufacture, 3. Navigation and Commerce and 4. War. Almost all the decoration was the work of Charles Peart except for the statue of BritanniaBritanniaBritannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
by Joseph Ceracchi. In 1842 the 2nd Duke of Buckingham inserted in the centre of the floor the Roman mosaicMosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
found at nearby FoscottFoscott, BuckinghamshireFoscott is a hamlet and is also a civil parish within Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. In the Twentieth century a reservoir was built within Foscote, named Foxcote Reservoir...
. The Temple has been used for over 40 years by the School as its Music School.
- The Saxon Deities these are sculptures by John Michael Rysbrack of the seven deities that gave their names to the days of the weekWeek-day namesThe names of the days of the week from the Roman period have been both named after the seven planets of classical astronomy and numbered, beginning with Monday. In Slavic languages, a numbering system was adopted, but beginning with Monday. There was an even older tradition of names in Ancient...
. Carved from Portland stonePortland stonePortland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major...
in 1727. They were moved to their present location in 1773, (the sculptures are copies of the originals that were sold in 1921-2). They are arranged in a circle. Each sculpture (with the exception of Sunna a half length sculpture) is life size, the base of each statue has a RunicRunic alphabetThe runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
inscription of the gods name, and stands on a plinth. They are: Sunna (Sunday), MonaManiMani is a name or word occurring in several etymologically unrelated languages and cultures, including:* Maní - a legend of the indigenous tribe Tupi in Brazil.* Mani , the founder of Manichaeism....
(Monday), Tiw (Tuesday), WodenWodenWoden or Wodan is a major deity of Anglo-Saxon and Continental Germanic polytheism. Together with his Norse counterpart Odin, Woden represents a development of the Proto-Germanic god *Wōdanaz....
(Wednesday), ThunerThorIn Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
(Thursday), FrigaFriggFrigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...
(Friday) and a Saxon version of SeaternSaturn (mythology)In ancient Roman religion and myth, Saturn was a major god presiding over agriculture and the harvest time. His reign was depicted as a Golden Age of abundance and peace by many Roman authors. In medieval times he was known as the Roman god of agriculture, justice and strength. He held a sickle in...
(Saturday), the original Sunna & Thuner statues are in the V&A Museum, the original Friga is at PortmeirionPortmeirionPortmeirion is a popular tourist village in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was designed and built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 and 1975 in the style of an Italian village and is now owned by a charitable trust....
, the original Mona is in the Buckinghamshire County MuseumBuckinghamshire County MuseumThe Buckinghamshire County Museum is a museum in the centre of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, England. It displays artefacts pertinent to the history of Buckinghamshire including geological displays, costume, agriculture and industry...
.
The Lamport gardens
Is to the east of the Eastern Gardens, named after the vanished hamlet of LamportLamport, Buckinghamshire
Lamport was a hamlet in the parish of Stowe in north Buckinghamshire, England. It was cleared by the Temple family, as a result of enclosures, after 1739, to improve the amenity value of their new park at Stowe...
, was created from 1826 by Richard Temple-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and his gardener James Brown, from 1840 2nd Duke of Buckingham's gardener Mr Ferguson and the architect Edward Blore
Edward Blore
Edward Blore was a 19th century British landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland ....
as an ornamental rock
Rock Garden
The Rock Garden or Rock Garden of Chandigarh is a Sculpture garden in Chandigarh, India, also known as Nek Chand's Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand, a government official who started the garden secretly in his spare time in 1957. Today it is spread over an area of forty-acres , it is...
and water garden
Water garden
Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, are a type of man-made water feature. A water garden is defined as any interior or exterior landscape or architectural element whose primarily purpose is to house, display, or propagate a particular species or variety of aquatic plant...
. The buildings in this area are:
- The Chinese House known to date from 1738 making it the first known building in England built in the Chinese styleChinese architectureChinese architecture refers to a style of architecture that has taken shape in East Asia over many centuries. The structural principles of Chinese architecture have remained largely unchanged, the main changes being only the decorative details...
. Made of wood and painted on canvas inside and out by Francesco SleterFrancesco SleterFranceso Sleter was an Italian painter, active in England.He was born in Venice. He is believed to have studied under Gregorio Lazzarini. He was in England by 1719 when he designed the stained glass windows for James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos in the chapel at Cannons, these are now in the...
. Originally it was on stilts in a pond near the Elysian Fields. In 1750 it was moved from Stowe and was purchased by the National Trust in 1996 and returned and placed in its present position.
- The Lamport Lodge this uniquely for the gardens red brickBrickA brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
lodgeGate LodgeGate Lodge is a small house located at Mount Austin Road on Victoria Peak. Located on the Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong, it was built between 1900 and 1902. Gate Lodge is in Renaissance style....
, in a Tudor GothicTudor style architectureThe Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
style, with two bay windows either side of porch and is a remodelling of 1840-1 by Blore of an earlier building. It acts as an entrance through the ha-ha, there are three sets of iron gates, that consists of one carriage and two flanking pedestrian entrances. They lead to an avenue of BeechBeechBeech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
trees planted in 1941 that lead to the Gothic Temple.
The Grecian valley
Is to the north of the Eastern Garden. Designed by Capability Brown and created from 1747 to 1749, this is Brown's first known landscape design. An L-shaped area of lawns covering about 60 acres (24.3 ha), was formed by excavating 23500 cubic yards (17,967 m³) of earth by hand and removed in wheelbarrowWheelbarrow
A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles to the rear, or by a sail to push the ancient wheelbarrow by wind. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a...
s with the original intention of creating a lake. Mature Lime
Tilia
Tilia is a genus of about 30 species of trees native throughout most of the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The greatest species diversity is found in Asia, and the genus also occurs in Europe and eastern North America, but not western North America...
and Elm trees were transplanted
Digging trees and shrubs for transplanting
When transplanting trees or shrubs from one location to another, digging the plant in preparation for moving it is typically the most challenging part of the job....
from elsewhere on the estate to create a mature landscape. Other tree species that Brown used in this and other areas of the gardens include: Cedar
Cedar wood
Cedar wood comes from several different trees that grow in different parts of the world, and may have different uses.* California incense-cedar, from Calocedrus decurrens, is the primary type of wood used for making pencils...
, Yew
Taxus baccata
Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western, central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest Asia. It is the tree originally known as yew, though with other related trees becoming known, it may be now known as the English yew, or European yew.-Description:It is a small-...
, Beech, Sycamore, Larch
Larch
Larches are conifers in the genus Larix, in the family Pinaceae. Growing from 15 to 50m tall, they are native to much of the cooler temperate northern hemisphere, on lowlands in the north and high on mountains further south...
& Scots Pine
Scots Pine
Pinus sylvestris, commonly known as the Scots Pine, is a species of pine native to Europe and Asia, ranging from Scotland, Ireland and Portugal in the west, east to eastern Siberia, south to the Caucasus Mountains, and as far north as well inside the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia...
. The buildings in this area are:
- Temple of Concord and Victory
The designer of this the largest of the garden buildings is unknown, both Earl Temple and Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford have been suggested as the architect. Built from stone, between 1747–49, the building is located where the two legs of the valley meet. It is raised on a podium
Podium
A podium is a platform that is used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek πόδι In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podia can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of an orchestra stands on a podium as do many...
with a flight of steps up to the main entrance, the cella
Cella
A cella or naos , is the inner chamber of a temple in classical architecture, or a shop facing the street in domestic Roman architecture...
and pronaos is surrounded by a peristyle
Peristyle
In Hellenistic Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden. Tetrastoon is another name for this feature...
of 28 fluted Roman Ionic
Ionic order
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian...
columns, ten on the flanks and six at each end. The main pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
contains a sculpture by Peter Scheemakers
Peter Scheemakers
Peter Scheemakers was a Flemish Roman Catholic sculptor who worked for most of his life in London, Great Britain....
of Four Quarters of the World bringing their Various Products to Britannia, there are six statues acroterion
Acroterion
An acroterion or acroterium is an architectural ornament placed on a flat base called the acroter or plinth, and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the Classical style. It may also be placed at the outer angles of the pediment; such acroteria are referred to as acroteria angularia...
of cast lead painted to resemble stone on both the east and west pediments. In the frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
of the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
are the words CONCORDIAE ET VICTORIAE, the sculpture on the building dates from the 1760s when it was converted into a monument to the British victory in the Seven Years' War
Seven Years' War
The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
. The ceiling of the peristyle is based on an engraving by Robert Wood
Robert Wood (engraver)
Robert Wood was a British traveller, classical scholar, civil servant and politician.In 1750-1751 Wood travelled around the Levant with two wealthy young Oxford scholars James Dawkins and John Bouverie and an Italian draftsman Giovanni Battista Borra...
of a ceiling in Palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
. Within the pronaos and cella are 16 terracotta medallions commemorating British Victories. The wooden doors are painted a Prussian blue
Prussian blue
Prussian blue is a dark blue pigment with the idealized formula Fe718. Another name for the color Prussian blue is Berlin blue or, in painting, Parisian blue. Turnbull's blue is the same substance but is made from different reagents....
with gilded highlights on the moldings. Above the door is an inscription by Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
:
Quo Tempore Salus eorum in ultimas Ausustias deducta
nullum Ambitioni Locum relinquebat
(The Times with such alarming Dangers fraught
Left not a Hope for any factious Thought)
Liberty (goddess)
Goddesses named for and representing the concept Liberty have existed in many cultures, including classical examples dating from the Roman Empire and some national symbols such as the British "Britannia" or the Irish "Kathleen Ni Houlihan"....
. Above is this inscription:
Candidis autem animis voluptatem praebuerint in
cinspicuo posita qua cuique magnifica merito contigerunt
(A sweet sensation touches every breast of candour's generous sentiment possest,
When public services with honour due, are gratefully marked out to public view)
When the School built its Chapel in the late 1920s, 16 of the 28 columns from this Temple were moved to the new building, being replaced with plain brickwork. One of the earliest National Trust restoration works was to create replacement columns with which to restore the Temple.
- The Fane of Pastoral Poetry, located in a grove of trees at the eastern end of the Grecian Valley at the north-east corner of the gardens, it is a small belvedereBelvedere (structure)Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...
designed by James Gibbs in 1729 it was moved to its present position in the 1760s. It is square in plan with chamfered corners that, built of stone, each side is an open arch, HermaHermaA Herma, commonly in English herm is a sculpture with a head, and perhaps a torso, above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height...
protrude from each chamfered corner. It is surmounted by an octagonal lead dome.
- The Circle of the Dancing Faun Located near the north-east end of the Valley near the Fane of Pastoral Poetry, the Dancing Faun commanded the centre of a circle of five sculptures of shepherds and shepherdesses, all of the sculptures had been sold. Two of these statues were located in Buckingham and restored in 2009 to their original place in the garden. It is intended eventually to replace both the FaunFaunThe faun is a rustic forest god or place-spirit of Roman mythology often associated with Greek satyrs and the Greek god Pan.-Origins:...
and the other statues. - The Cobham Monument, to the south of the Grecian Valley is the tallest structure in the gardens rising 104 feet (31.7 m). Built 1747-49 of stone, probably designed by Brown. It consists of a square plinth with corner buttresses surmounted by Coade stoneCoade stoneLithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
lions holding shields added in 1778. The column itself is octagonal with a single fluteFluting (architecture)Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
on each face, with a molded doricDoric orderThe Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
capital and base. On which is a small belvedere of eight arches with a dome supporting the sculpture of Lord Cobham.
The western garden
Is to the immediate west of the South Vista, including the Eleven-Acre Lake. This area of the gardens was developed from 1712 to 1770s when it underwent its final landscaping. The Eleven-acre lake was extended and given a natural shape in 1752. The buildings in this area are:- The Rotondo designed by Vanbrugh and built 1720-1, this is a circular temple, consisting of ten unfluted Roman Ionic columns raised up on a podium of three steps. The dome was altered by Borra in 1773-4 to give it a lower profile. In the centre is a statue of VenusVenusVenus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...
raised on a tall decorated plinth. The current sculpture is a recent replacement for the original and is giltGildingThe term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
.
- Statue of Queen Caroline this takes the form of a TetrapylonTetrapylonThe South Tetrapylon -- which is greek for "four gates"-- is the intersection of Jerash's Cardo with the first cross street in the ancient ruins of Jerash in Jordan dated to the Roman period at the end of the 2nd century AD. Four niched pilasters formed the base of a former central monument....
, a high square plinth surmounted by four fluted Roman Ionic columns supporting an entablatureEntablatureAn entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
which in turn supports the statue of Queen Caroline on its pedestal around which is inscribed Honori, Laudi, Virtuti Divae Carolinae (To honour, Praise and Virtue of the Divine Caroline). Probably designed by Vanbrugh.
- The Temple of Venus dated 1731 this was the first building in the gardens designed by William Kent. Located in the south-west corner of the gardens on the far side of the eleven-acre lake. The stone building takes the form of one of Palladio's villas, the central rectangular room linked by two quadrant arcades to pavilions. The main main pedimented facade has an exedra screened by two full and two half Roman Ionic columns, there are two niches containing busts either side of the door of Cleopatra & FaustinaFaustina the ElderAnnia Galeria Faustina, more familiarly referred to as Faustina I , was a Roman Empress and wife of Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius.-Early life:...
, the exedra is flanked by two niches containing busts of NeroNeroNero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
and VespasianVespasianVespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
all people known for their sexual appetites. The end pavilions have domes. Above the door is carved VENERI HORTENSI "to Venus of the garden". The interior according to the 1756 Seeley Guidebook was decorated with murals painted by Francesco Sleter the centre of the ceiling had a painting of a naked VenusVenus (mythology)Venus is a Roman goddess principally associated with love, beauty, sex,sexual seduction and fertility, who played a key role in many Roman religious festivals and myths...
and the smaller Compartments were painted with a variety of intrigues. The walls had paintings with scenes from Spencer's The Faerie QueeneThe Faerie QueeneThe Faerie Queene is an incomplete English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. The first half was published in 1590, and a second installment was published in 1596. The Faerie Queene is notable for its form: it was the first work written in Spenserian stanza and is one of the longest poems in the English...
. The paintings were destroyed in the late 18th century. Reverend John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, who visited in 1779, said the paintings were "lewd". The ceiling frieze had this inscription by CatullusCatullusGaius Valerius Catullus was a Latin poet of the Republican period. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art.-Biography:...
:
Nunc amet qui nondum amavit:
Quique amavit, nunc amet.
(Let him love now, who never lov'd before:
Let him, who always lov'd, now love the more.)
- The Hermitage designed c1731 by Kent, heavily rusticatedRustication (architecture)thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
and with a pediment containing a carving of panpipes within a wreath, and a small tower to the right of the entrance.
- Dido's Cave is little more than an alcove, probably built in the 1720s, originally decorated with a painting of Dido and AeneasAeneasAeneas , in Greco-Roman mythology, was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was the second cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas Priam's second cousin, once removed. The journey of Aeneas from Troy , which led to the founding a hamlet south of...
. In c.1781 the facade was decorated with tufaTufaTufa is a variety of limestone, formed by the precipitation of carbonate minerals from ambient temperature water bodies. Geothermally heated hot-springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits known as travertine...
by the Marchioness of Buckingham. Her son the 1st Duke of Buckingham turned it into her memorial by adding the inscription Mater Amata, Vale! (Farewell beloved Mother). The designer is unknown.
- The Artificial Ruins & The Cascade constructed in the 1730s the cascadeWaterfallA waterfall is a place where flowing water rapidly drops in elevation as it flows over a steep region or a cliff.-Formation:Waterfalls are commonly formed when a river is young. At these times the channel is often narrow and deep. When the river courses over resistant bedrock, erosion happens...
links the Eleven Acre Lake which is higher with the Octagon Lake. The ruins are a series of arches above the cascade built to look ruinous.
- The Menagerie of stone built c1781 probably to the designs of Valdrè. Hidden in the woods to the west of the south vista. It was built by the Marquess of Buckingham for his wife as a retreat. The 1st Duke converted it to display stuffed animals, including a 32 feet (9.8 m) long Boa constrictorBoa constrictorThe Boa constrictor is a large, heavy-bodied species of snake. It is a member of the family Boidae found in North, Central, and South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean. A staple of private collections and public displays, its color pattern is highly variable yet distinctive...
and 10,000 geological specimensGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
that he acquired in 1819 at the sale of William Bullock's collection, these were all sold in the 1848 sale. The central room is surmounted by a dome that has an exterior clad in copper, the interior used to have a mural. The facade consists of four evenly spaces Ionic pilasters the centre pair flanking the arched entrance doors, the outer pair niches. There are two quadrant wings of five bays flanked by Ionic columns matching the pilasters, between which are windows the rooms behind being orangeriesOrangeryAn orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
the ends of which are solid walls with arched doors in the middle flanked by herms, the whole surmounted by pediments. There used to be a formal rectangularRectangleIn Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...
flower gardenFlower gardenA flower garden is any garden where flowers are grown for decorative purposes. Because flowers bloom at varying times of the year, and some plants are annual, dying each winter, the design of flower gardens can take into consideration to maintain a sequence of bloom and even of consistent color...
in front of the building, but is now covered by tennis courtTennis courtA tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
s.
Demolished buildings and monuments
As the design of the Gardens evolved many changes were made, this resulted in the demolition of many monuments. The following is a list by area of such monuments.The Approaches
- The Chackmore Fountain Built c.1831, situated halfway down the Grand Avenue near the HamletHamlet (place)A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
of ChackmoreChackmoreChackmore is a hamlet in the parish of Radclive-cum-Chackmore, in north Buckinghamshire, England. The hamlet is approached using the avenue that links Buckingham with Stowe Park.-History:...
, dismantled in the 1950s.
The forecourt
- Nelsons Seat situated a few yards to the north-west house, built in 1719-20 to the design of Vanbrugh. It was named after William Nelson the foreman in-charge of building it, remodelled in 1773 with a Doric portico and demolished before 1797 the site is marked by a grass mound.
The western garden
- The Queen's Theatre created in 1721, stretching from the Rotondo to the south vista this consisted of a formal canal basin and elaborate grass terracing, this was re-landscaped in 1762-4 to match the naturalistic form of the gardens as a whole.
- The Vanbrugh pyramid was situated in the north-western corner of the garden. Erected in 1726 to Vanbrugh's design, it was 60 feet (18.3 m) in height of steeply stepped form. It was demolished in 1797 and only the foundations survive. The pyramid carried this inscription by Gilbert West:
Lamented Vanbrugh! This thy last Design,
Among the various Structures, that around,
Form'd by thy Hand, adorn this happy Ground,
This, sacred to thy Memory shall stand:
Cobham, and grateful Friendship so command.
- St. Augustine's Cave A rustic edifice with a thatched roof, built in the 1740s it had disappeared by 1797.
- The Temple of BacchusDionysusDionysus was the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness and ecstasy in Greek mythology. His name in Linear B tablets shows he was worshipped from c. 1500—1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks: other traces of Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete...
designed by Vanbrugh and built c.1718, to the west of the house, originally of brick it was later covered in stuccoStuccoStucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
and further embellished with two lead sphinxes. It was demolished in 1926 to make way for the large school chapelChapelA chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
designed by Sir Robert LorimerRobert LorimerSir Robert Stodart Lorimer was a prolific Scottish architect noted for his restoration work on historic houses and castles, and for promotion of the Arts and Crafts style.-Early life:...
.
- Coucher's Obelisk a dwarf obelisk erected before 1725, it was subsequently moved at least twice to other locations in the garden until its removal c.1763.It commemorated Reverend Robert Coucher, chaplain to Lord Cobham's dragoons.
- The Queen of Hanover's Seat in a clearing south-west of the site of the temple of Bacchus. Originally called the Saxon altar it was the focus of the circle of Saxon Deities in 1727, it was moved in 1744 to the Grecian Valley to serve as a base of a statue of a 'Dancing Faun' until being moved to this location in 1843 and inscribed to commemorate a visit by the Queen of HanoverHanoverHanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
in that year. Sold in 1921 it is now in a garden in YorkshireYorkshireYorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
.
- Cowper's Urn A large stone urn surrounded by a wooden seat, erected in 1827 just to the west of the Hermitage, sold in 1921 its current location is unknown.
- The Sleeping Parlour probably designed by Vanbrugh, erected in 1725 in the woods next to the South Vista, it was square with Ionic porticoes on two sides one inscribed 'Omnia sint in incerto, fave tibi' (Since all things are uncertain, indulge thyself). It was demolished in 1760.
- The Cold Bath built around 1723 to Vanbrugh's design, it was a simple brick structure located near the Cascade. Demolished by 1761.
The Elysian fields
- The Temple of Modern Virtue to the south of the Temple of Ancient Virtue, built in 1737, it was built as an ironic classical ruin, with a headless statue in contemporary dress. It appears that it was left to fall down, there are slight remnants in the undergrowth.
- The Marquess of Buckingham's Urn originally sited behind the Temple of British Worthies, erected in 1814 by the 1st Duke in memory of his father, it was moved to the school precincts in 1931.
- The Gosfield Altar erected on an island in the lake, this was an Antique classical altar erected by Louis XVIII of FranceLouis XVIII of FranceLouis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
in gratitude for being allowed to use Gosfield HallGosfield HallGosfield Hall near Braintree in Essex, England was built in 1545 by Sir John Wentworth, a member of Cardinal Wolsey’s household, and hosted Royal visits by Queen Elizabeth I and her grand retinue throughout the middle of the 16th century....
in EssexEssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. It was moved from there by the 1st Duke in 1825, it had disappeared by 1843.
- The Temple of Contemplation Now replaced by the Four Seasons Fountain. It was in existence by 1750 and had a simple arcaded front with pediment. It was later used as a cold bath until replaced by the fountain.
- The Witch House built by 1738 it was in a clearing behind the Temple of Ancient Virtue, built of brick with sloping walls and a heavy, over-sailing roof, the interior had a mural painting of a witchWitchcraftWitchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
. The date it was demolished is unknown.
- The Gothic Cross erected in 1814 from Coade StoneCoade stoneLithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
on the path linking the Doric Arch to the Temple of Ancient Virtue. It was demolished in the 1980s by a falling ElmElmElms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
tree. The Foundations are still visible.
- Apollo and the Nine Muses arranged in a semicircle near the Doric Arch there use to be a statues of ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
and the Nine MusesMuseThe Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
removed sometime after 1790.
- The 1st Duchess's Urn near the Gothic Cross, it was of white marble, erected by the 2nd Duke to commemorate his mother.
The Eastern Garden
- The Imperial Closet this small building was situated to the east of the Temple of Friendship designed by Gibbs and built in 1739, the interior had paintings of TitusTitusTitus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
, HadrianHadrianHadrian , was Roman Emperor from 117 to 138. He is best known for building Hadrian's Wall, which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain. In Rome, he re-built the Pantheon and constructed the Temple of Venus and Roma. In addition to being emperor, Hadrian was a humanist and was philhellene in...
& Marcus Aurelius with these inscriptions beneath each painting: 'Diem perdidi' (I have lost the day), 'Pro me: si merear in me' (For me, but if I deserve it, against me) & 'Ita regnes imperator, ut privatus regi tevelis' (So govern when an emperor, as, if a private person, you would desire to be governed). The building was demolished in 1759.
- The 1st Duke's Urn erected in 1841 by the 2nd Duke to commemorate his father, it stood by the path to the Lamport Gardens. It was removed in 1931 to the school.
The Grecian Valley
- Sculpture The valley used to have several leadLeadLead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
sculptures placed at strategic points around it, including 'HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and AntaeusAntaeusAntaeus in Greek and Berber mythology was a half-giant, the son of Poseidon and Gaia, whose wife was Tinjis. Antaeus had a daughter named Alceis or Barce.-Mythology:...
', 'Cain and AbelCain and AbelIn the Hebrew Bible, Cain and Abel are two sons of Adam and Eve. The Qur'an mentions the story, calling them the two sons of Adam only....
', 'Hercules and the Boar', 'The Athlete' and 'The Dancing Faun'.
The park
Surrounding the Gardens it originally covered over 5000 acres (2,023.4 ha) and stretched north into the adjoining county of NorthamptonshireNorthamptonshire
Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...
. There is a cascade of 25 feet (7.6 m) high leading out of the Eleven Acre Lake by a tunnel under the Warden Hill Walk on the western edge of the garden, into the Copper Bottom lake that was created in the 1830s just to the south-west of the gardens, the lake was originally lined with copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
to waterproof the porous chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
into which the lake was dug. The copper was replaced by butyl sheeting
Butyl rubber
Butyl rubber is a synthetic rubber, a copolymer of isobutylene with isoprene. The abbreviation IIR stands for Isobutylene Isoprene Rubber. Polyisobutylene, also known as "PIB" or polyisobutene, n, is the homopolymer of isobutylene, or 2-methyl-1-propene, on which butyl rubber is based...
when the Trust restored the lake. The rivers and lakes of both the park and gardens have many species of fish including: carp
Carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...
, perch
Perch
Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...
, pike
Esox
Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae — the esocids which were endemic to North America, Europe and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present.The type species is E. lucius, the northern pike...
, roach
Rutilus
Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...
, rudd
Scardinius
Scardinius is a genus of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Rudd...
& tench
Tench
The tench or doctor fish is a freshwater and brackish water fish of the cyprinid family found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal...
. The house's kitchen garden
Kitchen garden
The traditional kitchen garden, also known as a potager, is a space separate from the rest of the residential garden - the ornamental plants and lawn areas...
, extensively rebuilt by the 2nd Duke, was located at Dadford
Dadford
Dadford is a hamlet in the parish of Stowe in north Buckinghamshire, England.The hamlet name is Anglo Saxon in origin, and means Dodda's Ford in modern English...
about 2/3 of mile north of the house. Only a few remains of the three walled gardens now exist, but originally they were divided into four and centred around fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
s. There is evidence of the heating system; cast iron pipes used to heat greenhouse
Greenhouse
A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...
s, which protected the fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s, including then-exotic fruits, like peach
Peach
The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...
es. About a mile and half north of the house lies Haymanger pond
Pond
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...
, this is a haven for wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
and attracts grebe
Grebe
A grebe is a member of the Podicipediformes order, a widely distributed order of freshwater diving birds, some of which visit the sea when migrating and in winter...
s, snipe
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
, buzzard
Buzzard
A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....
s and grass snakes
Grass Snake
The grass snake , sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake is a European non-venomous snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians.-Etymology:...
, as well as other species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. In what use to be the extreme north-east corner of the park, about 2.5 miles (4 km) from the house over the county border lies Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
, this corner of the park used to be heavily wooded
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
, known as Stowe Woods, with a series of avenues cut through the trees, over a mile of one of these avenues (or riding) still survives terminated in the north by the racing circuit and aligned to the south on the Wolfe Obelisk though there is a gap of over half mile between the two. The National Trust have reintroduced Longhorn cattle
Longhorn cattle
Longhorn cattle are a long-horned brown and white breed of beef cattle originating from Craven in the north of England. They have a white patch along the line of their spine and under their bellies....
to graze the park north of the house.
The school had given the National Trust a protective covenant over the gardens in 1967, the first part they actual acquired was the 28 acres (11.3 ha) of the Oxford Avenue in 1985, purchased from the great-great-grandson of the 3rd Duke. The National Trust has pursued a policy of acquiring more of the original estate, only a fraction of which was owned by the school, in 1989 the school donated 560 acres (226.6 ha) including the gardens. In 1992 some 58 acres (23.5 ha) of Stowe Castle Farm located to the east of the gardens was purchased and in 1994 part of New Inn Farm to the south of the gardens was bought. Then 320 acres (129.5 ha) of Home Farm to the north and most of the 360 acres (145.7 ha) fallow
Fallow Deer
The Fallow Deer is a ruminant mammal belonging to the family Cervidae. This common species is native to western Eurasia, but has been introduced widely elsewhere. It often includes the rarer Persian Fallow Deer as a subspecies , while others treat it as an entirely different species The Fallow...
deer-park to the south-west of the gardens were acquired in 1995, this was restored in 2003 there are now around 500 deer in the park. In 2005 a further 9.5 acres (3.8 ha) of New Inn Farm including the Inn itself were acquired. The Trust now owns 750 acres (303.5 ha) of the original park. In the mid 1990s the National Trust replanted the double avenue of trees that surrounded the ha-ha to the south and south-west including the two bastions that project into the park on which sit the temples of Friendship at the south-east corner and Venus at the south-west corner, connecting with the Oxford Avenue by the Boycott Pavilions, the Oxford Avenue then continues to the north-east following the ha-ha and ends level with the Fane of Pastoral Poetry at the north-east corner of the gardens. The buildings in the Park include:
- Stowe Castle (Not owned by the National Trust) is two miles (3 km) to the east of the gardens, built in the 1730s probably to designs by Gibbs. The tall curtain wallCurtain wall (fortification)A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress.In earlier designs of castle the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult....
visible from the gardens actually disguises several farmworker'sFarmworkerA farmworker is a person hired to work in the agricultural industry. This includes work on farms of all sizes, from small, family-run businesses to large industrial agriculture operations...
cottageCottage__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
s.
- The Bourbon Tower about a thousand feet to the east of the Lamport garden, was built c1741 probably to designs by Gibbs, it is a circular tower of three floors with a conical roof, it was given its present name in 1808 to commemorate a visit by the exiled French royal familyHouse of BourbonThe House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
.
- The 2nd Duke's Obelisk near the Bourbon Tower, this graniteGraniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
obeliskObeliskAn obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
was erected in 1864.
- The Wolfe Obelisk stone 100 feet (31 m) high located a about 2000 feet (609.6 m) to the north-west of the garden, originally designed by Vanbrugh, it was moved in 1754 from the centre of the Octagon Lake and is a memorial to General Wolfe.
- The Gothic Umbrello also called the Conduit House it houses beneath its floor a conduitWaterwayA waterway is any navigable body of water. Waterways can include rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and canals. In order for a waterway to be navigable, it must meet several criteria:...
. about a 1000 feet (304.8 m) south of the Wolfe Obelisk, is a small octagonal pavilion dating from the 1790s. The coat of arms of the Marquess of Buckingham, dated 1793, made from Coade stoneCoade stoneLithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
are place over the entrance door.
- Silverstone Lodges (Not owned by the National Trust), built by the 1st Duke, these twin lodges use to flank the northern entrance to the park, and use to lead to the private carriage drive from SilverstoneSilverstoneSilverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Banbury...
to the house. The drive no longer exists, this having long since been destroyed, part of it passed through what is now the racing circuit.
Listed status
Stowe has one of the largest concentrations of grade I listed buildings in England. There are separate grade I listings in place for:- The house
- The arches at each end of the north front of the house
- Dido's Cave
- The equestrian statue of George I to the north of the house
- Lord Cobham's Column
- Queen Caroline's Monument
- The Boycott Pavilions
- The Cascade
- The Congreve Monument
- The Corinthian Arch
- The Doric Arch
- The Gothic Temple
- The Grenville Column
- The Hermitage
- The Lake Pavilions
- The Oxford Bridge
- The Oxford Gate
- The Palladian Bridge
- The Queens Temple
- The Rotondo
- The Shell Bridge and Captain Cook's Monument
- The Temple of Ancient Virtue
- The Temple of British Worthies
- The Temple of Concord and Victory
- The Temple of Friendship
- The Temple of Venus
- The Wolfe Obelisk
This is nearly 0.5% of the approximately 6,000 grade I listings in England and Wales. The other historic buildings in the garden and park are listed grade II* or grade II.
Stowe on film
- The North Front doubled as BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in the Steven SpielbergSteven SpielbergSteven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
1989 film Indiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last CrusadeIndiana Jones and the Last Crusade is a 1989 American adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, from a story co-written by executive producer George Lucas. It is the third film in the Indiana Jones franchise. Harrison Ford reprises the title role and Sean Connery plays Indiana's father, Henry...
. The scene was filmed at night and depicted a Nazi book burningNazi book burningsThe Nazi book burnings were a campaign conducted by the authorities of Nazi Germany to ceremonially burn all books in Germany which did not correspond with Nazi ideology.-The book-burning campaign:...
. - The television series Inspector MorseInspector Morse (TV series)Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
used the gardens in the 1989 episode Ghost in the Machine to represent the grounds of 'Hanbury Hall'. - The 1998 television series Vanity FairVanity Fair (1998 TV serial)Vanity Fair is a BBC television drama serial adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray's novel of the same name broadcast in 1998. The screenplay was written by Andrew Davies....
used the gardens to represent London's Hyde ParkHyde Park, LondonHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
. - The Gothic Temple appears (cleverly shot to double as a Scottish church) in the 1999 James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film The World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not EnoughThe World Is Not Enough is the nineteenth spy film in the James Bond film series, and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film was directed by Michael Apted, with the original story and screenplay written by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Bruce Feirstein. It...
. - The 2001 BollywoodBollywoodBollywood is the informal term popularly used for the Hindi-language film industry based in Mumbai , Maharashtra, India. The term is often incorrectly used to refer to the whole of Indian cinema; it is only a part of the total Indian film industry, which includes other production centers producing...
film Kabhi Khushi Kabhie GhamKabhi Khushi Kabhie GhamKabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham... is a Bollywood film released in India and countries with large NRI populations on 14 December 2001....
used the house as a location. - The opening scene of 2007 film Stardust was shot in the Marble Saloon, the gardens were also used.
The house and gardens have also featured in Documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
s:
- In 2006 Simon ThurleySimon ThurleySimon John Thurley, CBE, FRIBA, F.R.Hist.S. is an academic and architectural historian, and the present Chief Executive of English Heritage .-Early life and education:...
's Buildings That Shaped Britain: The Country House. - In 2007 Jonathan MeadesJonathan MeadesJonathan Turner Meades is a British writer on food, architecture, and culture, as well as an author and broadcaster. He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society and a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.-Education:Meades was born in Salisbury Wiltshire, and...
's Abroad Again, in the episode Stowe gardens.