Upper Garden Pavilion At Whinburn

The Upper Garden Pavilion at Whinburn is a garden pavilion built in 1922-23, originally designed by John Simpson & Maxwell Ayrton and subsequently modified by T.H. Mawson. It is constructed from coursed rubble with a stone slate roof.

The pavilion is square in form, built on two levels on a steeply sloping site, and topped with a pyramidal roof featuring sprocketed eaves. External stone steps, bounded by a low stone wall with flat stone capping, lead to the upper level. The west-facing (upslope) side features a recessed arch entrance, while the other sides originally contained large rectangular windows with oak trelliswork, which has since been lost. Inside, the upper level has a stone flagged floor and a plaster ceiling decorated with a painted design of vines and grapes twining around a trellis. An inscription reads: "A GARDEN IS A BEAUTIFUL BOOK / WRIT BY THE FINGER OF GOD" on a beam above the entrance. The pavilion provides views of the main house to the left, the grounds to the front, and the countryside to the right.

A shallow recess at the lower level, designed by Mawson to be 3 feet deep and as long as the thickness of the side walls allows, is spanned by a haunched flat arch. Traces of a painted frieze remain around the top of the recess. Leading eastwards from the pavilion is the estate's boundary wall, and further down the slope are several remaining pillars from a former pergola that once led to a second, smaller pavilion.

The garden at Whinburn was redesigned in the years leading up to the First World War, initially established by the Prince Smith family in 1897, who had made their fortune in the woollen machinery industry. In 1912, the family employed Simpson and Ayrton (also designers of Wembley Stadium) to enlarge the house and redesign the garden. Mawson’s firm was involved in the garden’s remodelling, and original drawings showing his suggested adaptations survive. The garden was added to the Register as a Grade II designed landscape in 2002.

The pavilion is designated at Grade II due to its design by eminent architects Simpson and Ayrton, with modifications by T.H. Mawson, its architectural details in the Arts and Crafts tradition, its important position within the carefully designed garden, and the delicately executed painted plaster ceiling, a rare and interesting feature.