The Temple - Introduction

The Temple - Introduction

The Temple is situated in a little village called Stoke-by-Nayland in Suffolk. While it had been a mystery for many years, we know now that it was very likely to have been built in the mid-18th century by Robert Taylor.

Robert Taylor was a young architect at the time, just back from his European tour of the Palladian buildings in Italy. It was almost a rite of passage for an English classical architect to travel and see the work of Andrea Palladio in Italy's Veneto region. As a result of this architectural pilgrimage, the Georgian era of architecture in 18th-century England is heavily influenced by the characteristics of Palladian buildings.

It is likely that the owners of the estate commissioned Robert Taylor to design and build The Temple as a folly, perhaps with the view to landscape an even larger section around it and turn it into a park, but that never happened. 20 years later, the current owner's family took over the estate, demolished the main house, and commissioned architect John Soane and landscaper Henry Repton to build and create a new country home within a beautiful new park.

Palladian architecture typically sat within simple gardens and was softly set into the landscape - a principle that I have allowed to guide me when making changes within the garden at The Temple. Any planting is hidden behind neat hedging, so as not to distract from the simplicity and symmetry of the architecture, and I replanted smaller lime trees lining the canal. Nature is clipped and gently tamed to support the architecture rather than adorn it.

This restraint of adornment is the ideal within Palladian values, and the concept of restraint really resonates within me. I try to carry this into my work and the way I design.

Further reading

• Palladian Villas in Veneto
• Humphry Repton
• Houghton Hall