Gothic Temple In Grounds Of Rainbow Wood

The Gothic temple in the grounds of Rainbow Wood is a garden pavilion built in 1745 by Richard Jones. It was originally located at Prior Park and was moved to its current site in 1921. The pavilion is constructed from limestone ashlar and features a felt roof. It has a square plan with a low-pitched pyramidal roof.

The exterior showcases an open three-bay front supported by four Batty Langley columns, which are quatrefoil in section and have decorative capitals. The arches are wide and low with ogee shapes, topped with crockets, and there is a frieze band adorned with lozenge and flute designs, along with a moulded cornice and crenellations featuring small pierced quatrefoils. The detail of the arches continues in a single bay at each end, above stone paving, with a lower platform extending approximately 2.5 meters for the full width. The rear wall of the arcade includes a two-light window with 14th-century geometrical tracery and a central pair of plank doors set in an ogee arch, all featuring drip courses. The main pavilion has plain sides with a cavetto eaves cornice concealing gutters, and the rear wall, partly embedded in the slope of the land, has two windows similar to the front and a blind central panel with an ogee head.

Inside, the walls are panelled with an ogee intermediate band featuring florettes, and there are cusped heads below a frieze with quatrefoils, all carved in low relief stone. The rear wall has a plain recess with an ogee head that corresponds with the doorway, and similar panelling is found below the flanking windows. The roof structure appears to have been replaced in the 20th century.

This pavilion is a notable example of Gothick garden architecture and was once part of Ralph Allen's significant garden landscape. It represents an early and playful interpretation of the Gothic Revival style and was successfully relocated and reconstructed at its present site.