Building record 0446503004 - SMALL TEMPLE (ROUND TEMPLE), WEST WYCOMBE PARK

Summary

Late eighteenth century garden temple, called Small or Round Temple, in West Wycombe Park.

Protected Status/Designation

  • Listed Building (II*) 1125124: SMALL TEMPLE, WEST WYCOMBE PARK (DBC4934)

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Type and Period (3)

  • GARDEN TEMPLE (18th Century to 19th Century - 1700 AD to 1899 AD)
  • WATER TOWER (18th Century - 1700 AD? to 1799 AD)
  • DOVECOTE (20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)

Description

Grade II+. Late C18 or early C19. Curved brick and stucco single storey structure with conical Welsh slate roof capped by ball finial. Fan shaped east portico, cement rendered with Greek Doric columns under simplified entablature of frieze and cornice. Flanking end wall bays, each with niche under panel, all framed by pilasters and entablature. Graded for group value. Former water tower with cistern space now a dovecote (B9).
Situated between the Temple of Apollo and the haha on the south side of the main house, the Round Temple is an elaboration of an earlier circular dovecote, set on the boundary of the stables and domestic ranges. Revett added a pyramid roof and enclosed the eastern elevation with a quarter circle Tuscan colonnade intended to give impression of a full circuit. Revett' s drawings for the temple, c1775, are to be found in the house. This tempietto acts as the opposing terminal to the Temple of the Winds at the other end of the ha-ha. Apparently the water tower formerly contained cisterns to hold water pumped up to the house from the lake by a waterwheel housed within the cascade (B13).

Sources (11)

  • ---SBC17191 Aerial Photograph: Aerofilms. 1968. Aerofilms oblique AP. SU829945. Yes.
  • ---SBC17552 Aerial Photograph: 26/06/82. BCM A6/16 16A. SU\829949. Yes.
  • ---SBC17554 Aerial Photograph: 26/06/82. BCM A6/16/19. SU\828943. Yes.
  • ---SBC17555 Aerial Photograph: 26/06/82. BCM A6/16/20. SU\828943. Yes.
  • ---SBC17556 Aerial Photograph: 26/06/82. BCM A6/16/21. SU\828943. Yes.
  • <9>SBC3604 Bibliographic reference: DoE. 1973. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest: Buckinghamshire: Wycombe District: Borough of High Wycombe.
  • <10>SBC4635 Bibliographic reference: ENGLISH HERITAGE 1994 REGISTER OF PARKS & GARDENS OF SPECIAL HISTORIC IN-TEREST IN ENGLAND: PART 4 B.
  • <11>SBC9893 Bibliographic reference: NATIONAL TRUST 1981 WEST WYCOMBE PARK (COPY, FILED).
  • <12>SBC19995 Unpublished document: English Heritage. 2001. West Wycombe Park Buckinghamshire - Part 1: Site History and Introduction. 1. p18.
  • <13>SBC19996 Unpublished document: English Heritage. 2001. West Wycombe Park Buckinghamshire - Part II: The Earthwork Surveys. 2. p101; Fig 13 (a).
  • <14>SBC19998 Graphic material: English Heritage. 2000. West Wycombe Park: detailed plans of Pleasure Grounds, Wider Parkland and Church Hill. 1:2500. Fig 12 (a).

Location

Grid reference SU 82843 94260 (point)
Civil Parish HIGH WYCOMBE, Wycombe, Buckinghamshire

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Events/Activities (2)

  • Event - Survey: Detailed topographic survey and background research: West Wycombe Park Survey (Ref: 1346157) (EBC16386)
  • Event - Survey: Site visit (EBC13570)

Record last edited

Apr 8 2026 4:08PM

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