The Echo, Approximately 300 Metres South East Of Kings Weston House

A garden summerhouse or loggia of c 1722 by Sir John Vanbrugh for Edward Southwell.

MATERIALS: ashlar and rubble limestone, quarried locally in Penpole Woods. The mid-C18 plinth is of Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: rectangular on plan with three steps which lead through three raised semi-circular ashlar arches with heavy banded rustication, and vermiculated alternate courses. Tall vermiculated keystones rise up to the cornice. There is a parapet with three blind balustrades above, separated by dies with vermiculated panels, and six urns (late C20 copies) with twisted finials on bases with moulded faces. The flank and rear walls are rubble stone, of pale grey colour below arch height and of a pink hue above.

Internally, a central stone plinth is decorated with a chain of foliate swags in the style of a Roman altar. In the rear wall are three evenly-spaced niches that line up with the three arches at the front. On the interior of the façade above the arcade piers, and at the corresponding points on the rear wall, are putlog holes for former roof beams. The two flanking walls were partly reconstructed in the late C20.