Summerhouse of Stukeley House

The summerhouse, built around 1840, sits within the garden of Stukeley House. It is constructed with timber framing, rendered panels, and a plinth of coursed ashlar limestone. The roof is covered in plain red clay tiles.

The building is rectangular and positioned against the north garden wall, facing south over the garden. It is a picturesque structure in the Tudor revival style. The steep, half-hipped roof has exposed rafters at the eaves. The ridge has saddle-back tiles and is topped at the front by a finial, while at the rear there is a weather vane with the date 1849. Carved timber heads of a dog and a cat, which show signs of past painting, are set in place of kneelers on the gable (south) elevation. This elevation features a wide, centrally placed doorway with a four-centred arch. The spandrels of the arch are carved and painted with timber birds and foliage. The double doors have a single raised and fielded panel at the bottom, six panes in the middle, and eighteen small panes in the upper section. Flanking the door are two windows with a similar glazing bar pattern, though the small panes are of coloured glass. Above the door is an 18th-century stone tablet inscribed with a Latin verse, which translates as "Here scatter flowers, scatter brief roses/ For life (which dies) rejoices in flowers/ And with sweet smelling plants/ Crowns the still warm ashes of the poet." A blind box, supported by carved timber consoles, sits above the tablet, containing a wide blind for the door and windows. The side elevations incorporate a mid-rail and convex braces between the wall plate and posts, and each is lit by a window matching the style of those on the front elevation.

Inside, the ceiling is canted and clad in square panelling, with four panels pierced in an elaborate pattern. The walls are panelled to dado height, and a shallow, three-centred arch recess is set into the north wall. A stone chimneypiece with a moulded Tudor arch is found in the north-east corner. The floor is laid with wood blocks in a chequerboard pattern.