The time came when we had outgrown our home, things needed renewing and needed to increase in size. Sat within Grade I listed parkland, the lodge was just out of place. All along this entrance had also meant visitors were not experiencing the gardens as intended by Lord Cobham and his designers.
In the 1700s when Stowe was a visitor attraction, tourists had driven up Stowe Avenue, up to the Corinthian Arch and stayed at the New Inn. Here they could buy a guide book or stay overnight before walking down the Bell Gate Drive to enter the gardens. The entrance was designed to give subtle glimpses of the magnificent temples and House before you walked through and were left breath-taken by the views.
In 2003 phase two of restoring Stowe started with the acquisition and restoration of New Inn. It opened in 2012, reinstating the original entrance into the gardens via Bell Gate so that visitors were following in the footsteps of eighteenth-century tourists. We returned to the historic home of tourists, that offered a large complex for all of our supporters and a permanent solution that could help stabilise future growth.