Building record 0446503010 - TEMPLE OF DIANA

Grade II+. C18, perhaps by Robert Adam. Stucco on stone base. Steps up flanked by lead sphinxes. Pediment on Roman Doric pilasters, round headed arch to alcove with statue of (?) Flora on pedestal. Flower garland in stucco on barrel vault (B9).
Situated immediately to the west of the West Portico and protruding from the outer wall of the stable courtyard, the Temple of Diana is essentially a pedimented alcove flanked byTuscan pillasters. The Arms of the City of London on the shield held by the statue of Diana to the rear of the alcove indicate that this piece may have been inherited from the 2nd Baronet's uncle, Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor of London in 1702. The temple shares similarities with the small pavilions at the parish church of Ayot St Lawrence in Hertfordshire, built by Revett (for Sir Lionel Lyde) in 1778. It is certainly a near contemporary of the West Portico (also known as the Temple of Bacchus) built by Revett in 1770. The lead sphinxes flanking the steps are probably by John Cheere, who appears in the accounts in the 1770s (B13).