Curate Your Own Adventure

For our final day in Stowe we focused on the potential uses of heritage buildings. We had to select one of two heritage buildings to study in depth and suggest an alternative purpose. Our group selected the Queens Temple that is currently being used as an athletic equipment storage facility. The other option was the Menagerie which I will quickly summarize. The Menagerie was built in 1781 and now holds as the school shop. It would take approximately 1.7 million pounds to fully restore the building. In its current state, parts of the roof are caving in and there are large cracks in the foundations. The Menagerie was initially the private retreat of the Duchess of Buckingham and stored her aviary and orangery. It also functioned as a museum space to showcase the Duke’s collection.

The Queens Temple is similarly in a state of disrepair. Unlike the Menagerie, the Temple is in an isolated location – something we had to take into account in our activity. The Temple was completed in the 1740s and was later named Queens Temple in honour of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. The interior was restored in the 1930s, however, immediate work needs to be completed. Tiles are falling off the ceiling and the structural foundations of the building require some work.

Our intended purpose for the Queens Temple was as follows. We divided our project into the four seasons each allowing for a slightly different use of the building. In summer, we suggested an artist in residence stay in the Temple and paint whatever inspires them. We were hoping, for example, this could be the landscape or the gardens. It would be nice to have an an alumni from the school as the first artist. This is because it would strengthen ties with the school. In the middle/towards the end of summer, the artist would hopefully create enough works to then have a small temporary exhibition. In autumn, the temporary exhibition could continue. The rooms on the bottom level of the Temple would function as Vocational Education and Training Rooms including, for example, a dark room for teaching photography. In winter, we suggested a small Christmas market be established outside the Temple with guests allowed to enter the Temple as they wish. Finally, in spring, the space could be used as a mini temporary exhibition space of the students’ artistic works or as a rehearsal space for the choir/band.

After finalizing our project we had to go through the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. An obvious strength of our intended purpose is that the activities we suggest link back to the original use of the house. Ladies of the Temple-Grenville family would use the Temple for arts and crafts. Our project also means the building could have a dual use being for both the school and the community. Weaknesses included a lack of profit made by the activities and the possibility that initial marketing would be difficult.

Opportunities for the project included the fact that the Queens Temple would be used all year round. It could also engage students and support the school curricula. We weren’t quite sure how to answer the threats section. We thought it could be an issue if too many visitors wished to visit. There is also the threat of damage from bumping in and out exhibitions.

We received good feedback on our presentation! It was quite an interesting activity as we have yet to really think about re-purposing heritage places. Maintaining that historical connection is incredibly important and something that should always be a priority. Otherwise, the intangible stories may be lost.

Our group is currently en route to Oxford for an afternoon of exploring the city. I am taking this opportunity to write a quick post on our tour around the Stowe House gardens. They are owned and operated by the National Trust. The house, however, is managed and owned by the Stowe Preservation Trust and Stowe School. Our guide was Philip Clarke who accompanied us on a morning stroll through most of the gardens. We stopped at around six temples and heard a little about their significance and place in the landscape.

The first temple, the Corinthian archway, is clearly visible from the south side staircase of the house. Even though it was lightly drizzling and quite misty, you could still see the archway dominating the landscape. The purpose of the arch is to serve as a political statement having been built to commemorate the Seven Years War. It was commissioned by William Pitt the Elder in 1765. The arch is in direct line with the Roman General in the Marble Room fresco (representing Cobham) and the statue of King George I.

After walking for a few minutes we came across the old parish church from the original village of Stowe. It is still in use today and I would imagine it is a popular place to get married. It is also significant as the Temple family are buried within its grounds including Viscount Cobham. It is truly an amazing and beautiful garden to walk through. Around each corner is a temple that contributes to the overall theme of liberty.

If you follow the path from the parish church you will stumble across the Temple of Ancient Virtue. Inside are four Greek heroes: Homer, Socrates, Lycurgus and Pelopidas. To Cobham, these would have been the best of the best from the ancient world. A visitor in the 18th or 19th century would have understood their significance and purpose in the space. Clarke did a great job explaining this kind of detail to us. 

We then saw the garden’s grotto and the mouth of the underworld. Created by using stone from Vesuvius, at one end of the grotto is the structure leading to the underworld. From it emerges a river that is meant to represent the River Stix. Although created by William Kent, this part of the garden would later inspire Capability Brown. Brown of course being the father of the English Garden style.

My favourite monument/temple came next on the tour: the Temple of British Worthies. It was essentially a row of stone busts portraying a range of famous personalities. Included were Alfred the Great, Sir Isaac Newtown, and Elizabeth the First. As Clarke mentioned, the heroes on the temple our positioned at our level meaning we can aspire to reach their level. Situated above the busts was Mercury who was responsible for transporting these individuals to the afterlife.

Out of all the temples built there is one exception to the Neo-Classical style, the Gothic Temple. It is a very foreboding building positioned on a natural hill. The purpose of the temple is to be a Saxon fantasy church that stands out as a Saxon symbol of liberty. After crossing the Palladian bridge we reached our final stop – the Temple of Friendship. Literally a place where the men of the Stowe House could meet and conspire against the government. Famous faces that frequented the temple includes our good old friend William Pitt the Elder.

The tour finished with a quick summary of tourism in the gardens. It was a lovely experience hearing the history and symbolism of the garden whilst walking throughout. I highly recommend delving deeper into the meaning of the garden if you visit because there are some wonderful stories to be uncovered.

We had a very jam-packed day at Stowe. In total we listened to four lectures and had a very comprehensive tour of the entire house. Whilst I would love to write a little something on each of the talks and on the tour, I feel as though that would be an incredibly long post. Instead, I am only going to write on the tour of the house we had with Susan, a wonderful volunteer. Rather than dates and events, the tour focused on the stories of the house and those that lived within. The house was originally owned by the Temples-Grenville family and was built in the late 17th century and completely rebuilt in the 18th century. Arriving in England as sheep farmers, the family eventually worked their way up the social ladder to become Dukes and Duchesses.

The tour began in the North Annex of the house where we heard a little bit more about the family and the first owner of the house, Viscount Cobham or Richard Temple. Cobham fought in the War of Spanish Succession alongside the 1st Duke of Marlborough. On return to England, Cobham offended the Prime Minister at the time, Walpole, who stripped him of his military titles. Forced into an early retirement, Cobham turned his attention to completing Stowe House. Elements of his attitude towards Walpole can be seen throughout the house and in the garden. For example, Cobham painted himself into the ceiling of the North Annex receiving the sword of Mars – a sign of military strength. He is also surrounded by images of Roman mythology adding to the allure of power.

We left the Temple family for a quick visit to the ante-library to talk about the development of Stowe School. Opening in 1923, the school quite literally prevented the demolition of the building. The first headmaster, J. F. Roxburgh, had a ‘modern’ attitude towards his students. He believed in valuing each individual stating they should be acceptable at a dance, but, invaluable at a shipwreck. Although initially a school just for boys, in 2003 it became co-ed. We are currently staying in one of the school dorms!

After the library we rejoined the story of the Temple-Grenville family in the blue drawing room. You could trace the family history from the portraits in the room. After Cobham’s death in 1749, no legal heir meant the estate was passed to his sister, Hester, who had married into the Grenville family. Hester had five sons and one daughter, also named Hester. The daughter would eventually marry William Pitt the Elder. Three of the sons became Prime Ministers of England. As you can see, the family became quite influential.

During this time period, the 18th century, the world famous gardens of Stowe were completed by Capability Brown. Brown was a protagonist of the English Garden movement. Unlike the gardens in France that were so structured, English Gardens naturalized the landscape making it appear as though it was entirely natural. We are going to walk through the gardens tomorrow and admire the many temples.

We then moved into the library and admired the 23 carat gold leaf ceiling decal. It is amazing to think it is now used by students! Our tour finished with a discussion on the downfall of the Temple-Grenville family. Eventually the family achieved the title of Duke and Duchess. They only momentarily enjoyed reaching this social status. The second Duke of Buckingham owned the estate in 1832. Unfortunately he was a womanizer, gambler and horrifically in debt. In one day, he spent between 20 to 30 million pounds (today’s equivalent) to prepare Stowe House for the visit of Queen Victoria. After this visit, the family went bankrupt. In 1848 there was a huge sale of the interiors of the estate with Christie’s holding a forty day sale.

This is why the house is not adorned with furniture or trinkets. The Stowe Preservation Trust, however, has been able to salvage some objects. They are currently on display in the Discovery Centre and the house itself. It was an excellent tour of the house and provided such a great introduction to the Temple-Grenville family. If you’re wondering why it is called Stowe House, Stowe means a religious place in early Anglo-Saxon.

Besides from the tour we had a talk on how the site is managed, how the house is interpreted, and the community and school programs on offer. We had one activity to complete – create a thematic trail around the house. I created a fashion trail utilizing the paintings on display. Considering we had 10 minutes to complete the activity I was quite happy with the end result!

It was such a great day filled to the brim with information. I cannot wait to learn more about Stowe.