The Temple

The Temple is a summerhouse, now serving as offices for the Monkey Island Hotel, which is listed separately. It was built in the early 18th century for Charles Spencer, the third Duke of Marlborough. The structure is made of stone, now rendered, and features a small hipped slate roof topped with a ball finial. It has a nearly square plan with a splayed projecting bay on the west side and a large extension to the north. The building is two storeys high and symmetrical, with each front consisting of three bays. The ground floor is rusticated, with a plat band at the first floor, and Ionic pilasters above, finished with a dentil cornice and blocking course. There are pedestals below the pilasters with caps and bases, and a balustrade in between. The sash windows have glazing bars, with those on the ground floor featuring semi-circular heads and a balustrade underneath. The west front has a splayed bay in the centre, which projects forward on both the ground and first floors, topped with a pediment on shaped brackets. The first-floor windows on the other fronts also have semi-circular heads and radiating glazing bars.

Inside, the ground floor features an inner ring of six Doric columns with corresponding pilasters in the rusticated wall, and a panelled octagonal ceiling. A geometrical staircase with iron scroll balusters and a mop handrail leads to the first-floor room, which is richly decorated with an elaborate plaster ceiling featuring mermaids, festoons, and garlands. The dentilled cornice includes acanthus leaf and egg and dart mouldings, and the wall panelling reaches window-head height, enriched with egg and dart and bead and reel ornament. The northern extension, which consists of bedrooms for the Monkey Island Hotel, is noted as having no special interest.