Client Stowe House Preservation Trust
Project Phase I - Extensive repairs to the North
Front
Location Stowe, Buckinghamshire
Services Full Architectural Services
In September 2002 the Stowe House Preservation Trust celebrated the successful completion of the first phase of its repair programme to the 200m long North Front of this 18th Century Ducal mansion in Buckinghamshire. Stowe House is often referred to as the principal monument in the rightly famous Stowe Landscape Gardens. The estate was gradually developed by the Temple and Grenville families as their prosperity and status increased. The House as we see it today has not changed significantly from its arrangement in 1780 following dramatic extensions and rebuilding by Earl Temple.
Like many great estates, Stowe declined in the 19th Century as the owner's fortunes became depleted and the estate was eventually sold in the 1920s to become a public school. Stowe School thrived educationally but the governors struggled to maintain the landscaped gardens and the Mansion house. In 1989 a generous donation allowed the National Trust to take on the gardens and since then great progress has been made to restore the landscape and repair many of the garden buildings and temples.
In 1997 The Stowe House Preservation Trust was established and took on ownership of the house (the school is now a tenant). This Trust has been extremely successful in raising money towards a six phase comprehensive repair programme. Phases 1 and 2 have been generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The north front is symmetrical and consists of a 4 storey, 13 bay Mansion house, flanked by curving colonnades, forecourt walls with niches and blank 'Tuscan' gateways and screen walls reusing William Kent's arches. There was much cracking and damage. Following detailed analysis of the materials and their decay, a decision was made to replace the render with a lime based material. The colonnade roofs have been relaid in their original materials: Westmorland slate on the 'front' and local stone slates on the rear slopes.
As a final stage of the work, the forecourt was re-landscaped to introduce more grass as it was originally laid out. The north front of Stowe has been transformed back to its 18th Century appearance.
