In his youth, Henry Hoare II visited Italy. He became fascinated by the remains of classical and Renaissance Rome. Back at Stourhead, Hoare filled his garden with an extraordinary set of buildings and statues to remind him of his travels.
The Temple of Flora
© NTPL / Stephen Robson
The Temple of Flora stands above a natural spring known as Paradise Well. It is dedicated to the Roman goddess of flowers and spring.
Henry Hoare II 'the Magnificent' erected this, his first garden building, in 1744 to designs by his favourite architect Henry Flitcroft. Flitcroft took inspiration from a temple dedicated to the river god Clitumnus in Spoleto, Umbria.
Over the temple's door is an inscription of a line from Virgil’s Aeneid, the ancient epic of the founding of Rome. The line is spoken by the Cumaean Sybil to Aeneas, Rome's founder, as he enters the underworld: ‘Procul, O procul este, profani’ – ‘Begone, you who are uninitiated! Begone!’ Henry Hoare is asking you to enter his garden in the right spirit.
The Grotto
© National Trust / Stuart Fish
Grottoes were popular in Italian Renaissance gardens as a cool retreat from summer heat. The grotto at Stourhead is constructed of brick, lined with limestone and tufa imported from Italy.
For the Romans, such places were shrines to the gods and the home of water nymphs. The Grotto's main room is a circular domed chamber with a flooded niche, fed by natural springs, in which the reclining 'Nymph of the Grot' lies. This statue is based on a famous classical figure of Ariadne in the Vatican Gardens.
Beyond the main chamber lies another niche, in which a statue of a classical river god (representing Tiber or alternatively the local river Stour), perched on his island rock and surrounded by water, points the way to the Pantheon.
This scene is evidently also taken from the story of Aeneas, in which the Greek hero, a survivor of the Trojan War, lands in Italy. He is met by Tiber, who tells him that ‘here is your home assured’, and instructs Aeneas to seek the Arcadian king, who he finds at an altar dedicated to Hercules.
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The Pantheon
© NTPL / Nick Meers
‘Few buildings exceed the magnificence, taste and beauty of this temple’ - Horace Walpole
The Pantheon is a truly grand structure. The garden's largest and most important building, it draws the eye from all corners of the garden. Its interior is equally magnificent, with marble statues and reliefs set around the main circular hall.
It was designed by architect Henry Flitcroft, and built in 1753-4, and no doubt provided an impressive setting for Henry Hoare II’s picnics and summer parties.
The Pantheon was originally called the Temple of Hercules, as its interior is dominated by the alluring marble statue of Hercules by Rysbrack. The statue's biceps were modelled on 'the father of English boxing', the successful contemporary prize-fighter, Jack Broughton. Hercules was a great moral hero, and the famous painting of him at the crossroads between vice and virtue by Poussin hangs in the picture gallery of Stourhead House.
Other statues lining the curved wall below the dome are St Susanna (Henry’s wife and elder daughter were both called Susanna); Diana, goddess of hunting; Flora, goddess of gardens; Livia Augusta, wife of Emperor Augustus; Meleager, Atalanta’s lover and god of hunting; and Isis an Egyptian goddess.
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The Palladian Bridge
© NTPL / Nick Meers
For early 18th-century men of taste like Henry Hoare II, the 16th-century Italian architect, Andrea Palladio, was the supreme designer.
The Palladian Bridge, built in 1762, was based on a bridge in Vicenza designed by Palladio and forms the centre point of many of the garden’s classic views. Although purely ornamental, the bridge also serves to create the illusion that the lake is a river, flowing from the village down into the valley.
A stroll over the fine carpet of grass laid upon the bridge, to link the lake banks in a continuation of soft green, is an added delight.
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The Temple of Apollo
© NTPL / Nick Meers
Standing high upon a hill at the western end of the garden is the Temple of Apollo. It was built in 1765 by Flitcroft, inspired by the circular temple of Baalbec in Syria.
It is dedicated to Apollo, the sun god who dwelt on Mount Parnassus and without whom no garden can flourish.
The temple's beauty is captured in short glimpses through the trees as you enter the Shades from the House lawn, and in many striking vistas from around the garden.
The temple can be reached either by the twisting rock arch bridge built from Italian volcanic lava, or through the dark, concealed rockwork passageway near the Palladian bridge. Upon arrival, you turn to meet the splendid garden panorama below, described by Horace Walpole as ‘one of the most picturesque scenes in the world’.
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