Gothic Temple Approximately 600 Metres To East Of Shotover Park

FOREST HILL WITH SHOTOVER SHOTOVER SP50NE 5/82 Gothic Temple approx. 600m. to 18/07/63 E of Shotover Park

GV II*

Garden temple or boathouse. c.1740. Possibly by William Townsend of Oxford for General James Tyrrell. Limestone ashlar and rubble; old plain-tile roof. Gothick style. Gabled front, with crenellated parapet bearing an apex finial, has 3 pointed arches and a blind traceried wheel between triangular panels. Flanking octagonal turrets have 2-tiers of cusped ogee panels and niches, steep triangular gablets on attached angle shafts, and recessed upper stages which terminate in a tier of openings. Sides and rear are in plain rubble with a hipped roof. Interior: Open loggia has a ribbed and panelled plaster vault with Gothick cusping and decorative bosses. The temple lies at the eastern end of the main axis of the important early C18 layout of the formal garden. James Gibbs and William Kent have also been suggested as its designer. (C. Hussey, Country Life, Vol.LIX, pp.240-6; V.C.H.: Oxfordshire, Vol.V. p.276; Buildings of England; Oxfordshire, p.765).

Listing NGR: SP5899406726