Stowe's history | Buckinghamshire (2024)

The Cobham Era (1697–1749)

In 1697 Richard Temple, Sir Richard's son, became Stowe's fifth owner. In 1713, Temple became Baron Cobham and four years later was created Viscount Cobham. It was during this period that Temple employed garden designer Charles Bridgeman and architect Sir John Vanbrugh to enhance the garden.

Experimental design

Initial additions across the South Front were much more formal, with avenues of trees and precisely shaped ponds. Development of the garden moved quickly over the next few years.

A team of over 30 gardeners worked on the estate, with many garden designers experimenting at Stowe with styles they would later become famous for.

Vanbrugh and Bridgeman began laying out the initial areas around the house with some of the first monuments created just metres from the main house.

A trendsetter

Lord Cobham liked to work with the most fashionable forward thinkers of the time and intended to be seen as a trendsetter by all who visited his estate. Such indviduals included James Gibbs, William Kent and Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.

A change in fashion (1749–1830s)

Viscount Cobham died in 1749 and the estate passed on to his nephew Richard Grenville, Earl Temple, in 1752. During the years of his ownership he naturalised Stowe; softening the edges of woodlands and reshaping lakes to look natural.

Various monuments were moved, including the Lake Pavilions and the Fane of Pastoral Poetry. Meanwhile, both Oxford Bridge and the Corinthian Arch were added to the landscape.

Extravagance and decline (1830s–1860s)

Though some areas of Stowe weren't even 100 years old by the late 1830s, the estate was beginning to look neglected. The owner, the second Duke of Buckingham and Chandos, had extravagant tastes and was very poor with money management. After inheriting the estate, he was keen to undertake repairs on the house and garden but ran up huge debt with creditors.

The Duke borrowed even more money to buy expensive new furniture for the house and areas of the garden in an effort to impress the Royal Family when Queen Victoria made an official royal visit to the estate in 1845.

By the end of the decade, everything broke down. Bailiffs seized the estate and a large auction took place, with much being sold quickly and cheaply. A 40-day auction at Christie's raised only £75,000.

Stowe's fall (1860s–1920s)

Despite the expected decline, the third Duke of Buckingham and Chandos managed to save the estate. The second Duke died in 1861 and just four years later his son was able to move back into the house.

For much of the 1840s and 50s the house had been mothballed and the garden left for cattle and sheep grazing. The number of gardening staff was reduced from 40 to four, leaving a small number to care for the estate but there was no major maintenance to the buildings.

A salvage attempt

Through the 1860s several repairs were conducted including restoration on a number of temples, the reopening of Bell Gate to visitors, replanting, and the restocking of a museum on the site. Stowe had regained its status after just a few years.

Time to sell Stowe

This didn't last long though. With no male heir after the third Duke’s death in 1889, the estate passed to his daughter, Lady Kinloss. She had little use for the estate and initially considered selling it. The house was used sparingly over the following years, housing family for short periods of time.

Lady Kinloss's eldest son was due to take ownership of the estate, however he was sadly killed during the First World War. Shortly after the First World War, Stowe was put on the market.

Stowe School and the National Trust (1920s–today)

The estate was sold in July 1921 for £50,000 to Harry Shaw, followed by further sales of contents and statues in 1922. There was another sale of the estate in October to the governing body that would later form Stowe School.

Over the next six months, the house was adapted to include classrooms and student sleeping arrangements. Small changes were made over the decades with further school buildings built.

After years passing by with the garden standing still, the National Trust was gifted the garden in 1989 from Stowe School.