S h o t o v e r  H o u s e

G o t h i c   T e m p l e  F a ç a d e

(Best Viewed Full screen F11 key)

Shotover House 6 miles east of Oxford near Wheatley, is the seat of Colonel James Miller. The mansion house, begun in 1718, and its surrounding French influenced parkland, consists of over 150 acres. It was visited by Queen Elizabeth I. Sir John Vanbrugh visited in 1725 and was thought to have designed the gardens, which are finely wooded, with a long, rectangular artificial canal come lake, beginning from the rear of the house to the west, and finishing to a Gothic Temple Eye catcher screen in the East. The canal runs parallel to the drive to the mansion.

There is a fairly routine, but slender and wonderfully old looking, obelisk situated at the front of the house, and on the Eastern side of the canal, at the rear of the mansion, stands a little castellated stucco potting shed, painted the colour of stone, with very faded paintings of false French windows. But it is the fine eye catcher screen at the eastern end of the lake that immediately draws ones attention.

This Gothic Temple, at Shotover House was first thought to have been the creation of James Gibbs, (the designer of the fabulous Gothic Temple of Liberty we see at Stowe Gardens), or even Hawskmoor or perhaps even Sir John Vanbrugh. But only fairly lately in 1971, the original plans and drawings for the Temple were found. They were by William Kent, famous for his Temple and Eye catching designs at nearby Rousham House and Stowe Gardens. A General James Tyrell had commissioned Kent to build him a notable object, to be admired from his back lawn, and possibly from a punt on his artificial lake, and Kent did not disappoint. He produced possibly the second eye catcher folly in England, the first being his triple "rogue arch" design at Steeple Aston.

William Kent built the Gothic Temple in 1734. It is large, with 3 tall pointed arches set below a castellated and decorated pediment. The pediment's centerpiece is ornately carved with arrow heads in a circular blind window, flanked by 2 triangular ones. There are 2, lovingly carved octagonal, faintly castellated towers, standing at either end of the screen. The pediment's apex is nicely finished with a decorated and tapering, square pinnacle, topped off with a ball finial.

The folly is made of large limestone blocks, shaped and painted bright white, to catch the eye, although a closer look, -not advised, around the rear of the structure, getting intensely stung several times by nettles in the process, reveals a point on the wall where different types of paint, including lime wash has been tried out.

The eye catcher is a total façade as the arches open to a shelter with a beautifully vaulted and patterned ceiling, restored in 1992, but the whole thing simply backs on to a very old, plain stone barn, (buttressed), with 2 large chambers, possibly once being used as a boat house. It can just be made out in the photograph above. Certainly not something the gentleman of the estate would want to be viewed terminating such a magnificent artificial lake, so the façade Temple screens it, a common practice used in folly building, to disguise an unsightly building with something much more pleasing to the eyes.

The shelter probably once contained seating where guests of the mansion could sit with a drink, and enjoy the enchanting view back across the lake, to the distant Shotover House.

Below: an angled view through the woodland shades surrounding the eye catcher.

 

Broadband users may click the photo left for a full screen view.

Visiting:- The folly eye catcher is accessible from the drive to the mansion, 50 yards from the entrance of Shotover House from the very busy A40 road. Although a sign warns to keep well clear of the building as it has been found to be dangerous. The mansion is Private.

Co-ords SP589067 458900 206700

 

Bookmark this Page    

Reproduction of part or all of the contents of any of these pages is prohibited except to the extent permitted below.
These pages may be downloaded onto a hard disk or printed for your personal use without alterations. Any other use needs consent of the web site owner Mr C Curtis :- see Contact Page. These pages may not be included in any other work or publication, or be distributed or copied for any commercial purpose except as stated above.